The dilemma of being alone.

I want to ask a question, what is loneliness? Does it mean being alone physically, mentally, when one is surrounded by people or is it a state of mind where the brain doesn’t want to rely on emotional thoughts.
When I was young, I had this very same question in my mind but never felt it as intensely as I did after moving to Bangalore to start my MSc. Maybe when a person has so much time to think or perhaps when a person enters the realm of science as a curious young researcher, one thinks not only about science but also about what the science relies on. Thinking is a precious gift, but when a thought becomes a living breathing entity, then one needs the impetus to reflect on it again and again. Hence, thinking has everything to do with loneliness.

Consider “Survival of the fittest”, the remarkable theory proposed by Charles Darwin: he also set off on voyages alone, at least in his mind palace. Weren’t other great thinkers and scientists alone when they proposed theories which are not denied by anyone? So, can we say being alone gives us power to think? Although, I wonder if the famous thinker Aristotle ever thought about being alone or if he was alone?

I am not questioning or passing judgement on whether a person should be alone or not. But, if we just sit back and think a little about the times we were alone, what did we do? What would we have done, or did we do nothing? What thoughts filled us in these moments?

Dilemma is a loose but an impactful word to describe what we cannot define, or we cannot answer, but one thing is absolutely necessary for our survival: we should at least have a thought about it.

So, what do you say? What is the dilemma of being alone? I am not sure whether loneliness is a virtue, and it seems so hard to describe, but one must persevere… Are you also in a dilemma of loneliness now?

Perhaps, I am not a good writer but sometimes it is necessary to raise one’s voice. By penning down my thoughts, my dilemma continues!

The dilemma of being alone

Neeraj Sharma

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