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Moving Beyond the Myth of Loneliness

What changes as we consciously turn toward our suffering, rather than away? We are conditioned to experience ourselves as separate from life. When we identify with this perceived separation, a natural byproduct is loneliness. In an attempt to resolve the angst created by that experience, to heal the wound, we are habituated to look externally. In that outward gaze, we often overlook an experience of belonging that is inherent.

In this habit of focusing outside ourselves, we tend to turn away, rather than toward, our pain. How does our habit of seeking shift when we recognize that what we long for can never actually be lost?

Your doorway in

Dear one

I see the pain

in your heart —

the gaping wound

that’s been covered

with your good intention

to move on, to be strong,

to let go.

Now

in the stillness of the moment

you are safe to move into it,

to be with it, to turn toward

rather than away.

Trust

that this pain

will not break you.

Trust

that this pain

is made of the same love

that you’ve most longed for.

The wound is your doorway in.

—Caverly