~Only the Lonely~

this is my favorite picture.

i was alone.

          it was quiet, and beautiful, and i never wanted to return to land.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

another favorite picture.(i have a lot:)

i was just getting ready to cross a mountain stream.

it was an adventure i did by myself.

~~~~~~~~~

In both these instances i was alone.

i wasn't lonely.

(i rather like being alone)

but put me in a room with someone- or a group- 

 who doesn't hear my heart...and i am an island.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

i have often said i feel alone even though surrounded by people.

(it's hard to find alone time in a house of 6.)

i have heard others lament the same thing.

they can be in a crowd and never feel more lonely than at that moment.

i am beginning to think -

that feeling of alone isn't loneliness.

i am starting to wonder if maybe.....

it's more of a frustration or a hurt.

 of not being heard.

having no one who can relate.

not being understood.

or worse- being misunderstood.

~~~~~~~

i think there's a trick.

it begins when you realize there are going to be times when just maybe- 

no one WILL get it.

i am me.

me with the thoughts i think and feelings i feel.

and they don't have to be understood all the time.

i get it.

and maybe.....the person standing next to me in the crowd is just as lonely as i.

all i really have to do- is catch their eye- and smile.

i understand.

{an adventure we do ourselves is sometimes the most rewarding.}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be able to be alone. Lose not the advantage of solitude, and the society of thyself.

 - Thomas Browne