(no subject)
In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable.
-John Steinbeck
In case you can't tell, I like quotes - I have a notebook full of them, collected sayings I've run across, in case you were wondering where all of these come from.
I guess I've experienced loneliness. I put the 'I guess' in there because I'm never sure if I've experienced anything, really - I'm not that old. But loneliness is pretty usual in the human condition. I mean there's that idea that we're born alone and die alone, but I don't think we're meant to live alone. I've been watching people here and I've noticed that a lot of people are really lonely.
Back home, Valentine's Day is sort of a lark. You buy your girlfriend flowers and candy and you go to a dance or you go for dinner, and if you don't have a date it's not really a big thing because it's not like it's a big holiday that you get time off school for. It's not a family holiday, I guess. Or when you're a kid, like little kid, you make all those stupid cards and you pass them around at school. But I think it's about loneliness. I always thought that people were lonely because they wanted to be, but I've changed my mind.
I think that we're lonely because we're afraid. We're afraid of each other, in one way or another. I don't think that's a stupid thing to say. We cultivate barriers and secrets because we're afraid and we don't tell others about ourselves because we're afraid and we hide who we are because we're afraid, afraid of things like embarrassment or failure or other shit like that and it makes us lonely. Really lonely, lonely enough that we don't know how to open up to anyone anymore, so we invent holidays like Valentine's Day, to make it easier to get over loneliness.
I don't know what I'm afraid of. I should figure it out.
-John Steinbeck
In case you can't tell, I like quotes - I have a notebook full of them, collected sayings I've run across, in case you were wondering where all of these come from.
I guess I've experienced loneliness. I put the 'I guess' in there because I'm never sure if I've experienced anything, really - I'm not that old. But loneliness is pretty usual in the human condition. I mean there's that idea that we're born alone and die alone, but I don't think we're meant to live alone. I've been watching people here and I've noticed that a lot of people are really lonely.
Back home, Valentine's Day is sort of a lark. You buy your girlfriend flowers and candy and you go to a dance or you go for dinner, and if you don't have a date it's not really a big thing because it's not like it's a big holiday that you get time off school for. It's not a family holiday, I guess. Or when you're a kid, like little kid, you make all those stupid cards and you pass them around at school. But I think it's about loneliness. I always thought that people were lonely because they wanted to be, but I've changed my mind.
I think that we're lonely because we're afraid. We're afraid of each other, in one way or another. I don't think that's a stupid thing to say. We cultivate barriers and secrets because we're afraid and we don't tell others about ourselves because we're afraid and we hide who we are because we're afraid, afraid of things like embarrassment or failure or other shit like that and it makes us lonely. Really lonely, lonely enough that we don't know how to open up to anyone anymore, so we invent holidays like Valentine's Day, to make it easier to get over loneliness.
I don't know what I'm afraid of. I should figure it out.