Lonely in a noisy world
We are in the times when we are more connected than any other previous generation due to the presence of smart phones, social media messaging apps yet when each one of us seem so lonely and striving for meaningful relationships.
The feeling of loneliness is not to do with the number of people around you and the kind of relations that surround you, its all about being among the group of people where you can just be guards down, be your true self and still feel the warmth of love, acceptance and appreciation. Each individual over a period of time in their lives develops a persona /mask to suit and fit in the social norms but when the gap of the natural self and the projected self increases the need to unwind with friends and family also increases as they are the ones who can provide them a soft cushion to be their own self and share their fears and insecurities. If for some reason such a company is not available and accessible to an individual the chances are that he/she starts feeling the void and a sense of loneliness.
The world has actually become too noisy and extremely open to sharing a lot of information, but the individual craves for his/her emotional validation and acceptance. The days which are spent working makes a person remain lost in the chaos of meeting out the goals to be achieved, problems to be tackled, situations to be handled but when whole noise is silenced we are faced with our true self which seems disconnected and at times disoriented and find it tough to fit in the role people around us expect us to fulfill.
Each person is also plagued by the positivity paradox, to be positive, keep smiling have become the mantra for a life well lived so the moment a person confesses about the feelings of anxiety and helplessness, the people around that person gather to share various impractical tips on being happy anyways. This makes the task even much trickier as the person is unable to apply the tips and does not find anyone who can just empathise with the feelings and help him/her to stay strong put in the middle of the pain that exists and need to be just borne not avoided or blinded to it.
Loneliness bears the burn only when a person feels the need to survive the times in his/her projected self and not the true self. The time has come when the people need to develop the required empathy to be better at developing deep connections which provide a safe world for all to be their true selves and still feel accepted and appreciated.
As Carl Jung wrote “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are,” let us all provide each other that handholding and safe places to explore and breathe their own share of fresh air.
