Beauty in Loneliness

“Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.”

― Henry Rollins

Sometimes my cat sits in my lap and makes me feel needed warm and loved.

I call her mama because shes the most loving animal youll ever meet. She even helped raise our two dogs when they were puppys she cleaned them and cared for them. Im thankful for these times. I think because ive been lonely so long i appreciate them more than most people.


It got me thinking about how sometimes loneliness and solitude can be a blessing. It gives you an eye for beauty those who dont experience it are blind to. I think you can find beauty in anything if you look.

I think because were lonely we see and notice things most people take for granted. True it causes us no end of pain because we desire those things we see so, because were only human and we have needs and wants and desires like any person stumbling through this life. But i also think that its opened our eyes in a way a person whos always had all their needs met would never truly grasp or understand.

As a kid i used to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night. Not to get into any sort of mischief but just to walk up the road and look at the stars and it felt in my innocence like this magical hidden otherworld nobody knew about and could access but me. It made me feel special for a small time in other words.

I think the way i live sometimes im in love with loneliness. Sometimes i realize ill never be like anybody reading this, or anybody else who will ever live but at the same time im just like everybody, every single one of you. Just stumbling through, trying to make sense of it all. Theres a certain satisfaction in that. A mystery i know ill never solve in this lifetime and mystery is the spice of life it makes an ordinary event magical. So in a way its been a blessing, a gift throughout my life.

I can see things in people and places that everybody overlooks, they dont take the time to stop and notice the children smiling, or couples in love, or the silent strong way trees watch over us and provide us with shade and oxygen that keeps us alive. Or even just a quiet breeze blowing that caresses your cheek as if to say hello. The crowds in too big a hurry to notice something so simple and everyday. Not lonely people. We see it, and sometimes it speaks to us in a quiet still voice reminding us were never truly alone.

I think when loneliness hurts, thats just the only way it knows to communicate with us to let us know its still there. Ive been thinking about all the times ive been rejected, in my early life and my now life of solitude and isolation ala hermit mode. How people reject me, dont understand me, think wrong things about me, take me the wrong way etc. Thats a blessing too because i would never be able to connect with those people and they have nothing to offer me so it saves time from dealing with them. When people hurt you or disregard you and set themselves on a pedestal like is human nature its also human nature to want to hate those people and be angry with them etc. But the truth is everybodys just confused because our eyes are closed in this life and they cant see the bigger picture that were all in this together. That is the loneliest knowledge of all. But i keep it safe because its important somehow.

A person who doesnt experience the level of loneliness some of us do will never know simple truths like these. Theyll never understand the simple joy of people watching and being invisible amongst the billions swarming around like a bevy of ants milling back and forth on their unspoken buzzing rounds in the hive.

I use imagination as a tool to help with loneliness and sometimes i imagine im on a giant ark drifting through space and everybody else is asleep and im sort of caretaker for the ship. Its just a little thing in the back of my mind that helps me deal with it all.

It got me thinking too though what is it that really makes us lonely? We all just want connection, with another human being, to be needed, wanted and loved, to most of all be understood and accepted. To be a part of something. And i think im pretty foolish sometimes when i look at nature and life going on all around me. I am as are all of us always no matter what we do or how much we hide ,still a part of this world. We may not get the acknowledgement some get but we matter. Each and every one of us. Including you reading this.

I hope one day if you havent yet, that you find beauty in loneliness too and peace for your life.

God bless and good journeys.

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Thank you for sharing that.

Mouse said:

Thank you for sharing that.

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:shy: I hope you have a beautiful day today.

shadetree said:

As a kid i used to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night. Not to get into any sort of mischief but just to walk up the road and look at the stars and it felt in my innocence like this magical hidden otherworld nobody knew about and could access but me. It made me feel special for a small time in other words.

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I did the same thing when I was 15-16, you did a good job being able to explain it.

shadetree said:

Mouse said:

Thank you for sharing that.

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:shy: I hope you have a beautiful day today.

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Well, my day was made much better for reading that. You write with such compassion and again, I thank you.

This is very poignant and poetic. I agree completely, you have to embrace a degree of loneliness to be able to appreciate the beauty in the world.

^ Agreed

Shadetree, you could have been describing many days and nights I've lived through.

Thanks everybody, i appreciate you taking the time to read it, i hope it brought you a small measure of peace. I think a lot of that has to do with perception of our realities whether we find peace or discord in our lives. Im kind of stuck in my way of living and mindset so i just try to alter the way i look at things and it helps sometimes. Hope yall had a good weekend and this weeks good for you.

constant stranger said:

Shadetree, you could have been describing many days and nights I've lived through.

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Yeah its a really odd thing living this way. I dont know that anybody could really understand it unless theyve lived through it too.

shadetree said:

I can see things in people and places that everybody overlooks, they dont take the time to stop and notice the children smiling, or couples in love, or the silent strong way trees watch over us and provide us with shade and oxygen that keeps us alive. Or even just a quiet breeze blowing that caresses your cheek as if to say hello. The crowds in too big a hurry to notice something so simple and everyday. Not lonely people. We see it, and sometimes it speaks to us in a quiet still voice reminding us were never truly alone.

A person who doesnt experience the level of loneliness some of us do will never know simple truths like these. Theyll never understand the simple joy of people watching and being invisible amongst the billions swarming around like a bevy of ants milling back and forth on their unspoken buzzing rounds in the hive.

I use imagination as a tool to help with loneliness and sometimes i imagine im on a giant ark drifting through space and everybody else is asleep and im sort of caretaker for the ship. Its just a little thing in the back of my mind that helps me deal with it all.

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it's the simple things around us that make life worth living, even just a little
whenever my muscles seize up, i just lay still a look up, imagining my ceiling is the sky [if only i could sneak out to really see it clearly]
i get the imagination part. i often entertain the though of being one of the few playable characters, and everyone else NCPs.. when i was a child i'd imagine i had magic or something and nobody else did, so i'd be special in my mind even though i wouldn't tell anyone.

ninako said:

it's the simple things around us that make life worth living, even just a little
whenever my muscles seize up, i just lay still a look up, imagining my ceiling is the sky [if only i could sneak out to really see it clearly]
i get the imagination part. i often entertain the though of being one of the few playable characters, and everyone else NCPs.. when i was a child i'd imagine i had magic or something and nobody else did, so i'd be special in my mind even though i wouldn't tell anyone.

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You are special its just i think as we get older its easy to forget that. I think that magic that we all knew as kids can still exist and should exist.Its what makes life worth living. Theres a movie you might enjoy called neverwas that talks about that.I really enjoyed it, amazing really beautiful film.

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The only thing really that seperates us now from how we were as kids is our mindset and societys expectations of us. But to be honest the way society is going i dont think theyre exactly a good judge of character lol.

thank you

That was a lovely way to express it. It's true when lonely people see things others don't. Reminds me of when I was away travelling and all the crowds were rushing to see the most famous tourist spot but I took my time to get there and found some tortoises just milling away with all the time in the universe...small things like that are so amazing yet people will just rush by have you ever noticed people looking up on a starlit night and just taking it in? We're so engaged in whats going on around us who's doing what on our phones, people miss out on some brilliant moments. I always feel if I get too comfortable with loneliness then that is the way it will be for the rest of my life. So i'm trying to change it, but I cannot deny its also given me the will to do that and some positive experiences along the way.

Yeah i agree, its kinda like they say cant see the forest for the trees. I think its because human beings are herd animals lol. Were kinda like cows or sheep so we run toward the new shiny thing. Its good to know theres a few though that take the time to value life in all its forms and experiences. I stoppped the other day while i was walking and just listened to the wind and birds cawing, watched ice melting off the trees. Was a really beautiful moment, and if id just been focusing on my walking etc i wouldve missed it.

I've found it useful to separate isolation/solitude from loneliness. So I don't think there is beauty in loneliness. Loneliness is pain. It's a reaction to being isolated. But there is beauty in isolation and solitude. If you are reacting to it adversely, because you don't want to be alone, this is what I call "loneliness". The two don't need to go hand in hand.

So many writers, Thoreau, Burroughs, Emerson, found beauty in solitude. There's something about it that people don't get. When you're alone, you have the entire world to yourself. What more could you want?

I find that because I am so attuned to my surroundings, I could take a picture of a trashcan and others will say "Why are you doing that?" and then it comes out looking beautiful…and they're silenced.

Being ignored makes you notice your surroundings more. I remember when i was 14, I would go out and walk in the woods by myself. I made treasure maps of my path, so many adventures were had on my own. I'd go sit by a brook in a deep wooded ravine. I'd play with shells on the shore of a lake. Discover animal bones and skulls. Huge fish carcasses.

Lonely kid. Great imagination.

Shadetree, your posting was truly inspiring. Thanks for that!

shadetree said:

“Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.”

― Henry Rollins

Sometimes my cat sits in my lap and makes me feel needed warm and loved.

I call her mama because shes the most loving animal youll ever meet. She even helped raise our two dogs when they were puppys she cleaned them and cared for them. Im thankful for these times. I think because ive been lonely so long i appreciate them more than most people.


It got me thinking about how sometimes loneliness and solitude can be a blessing. It gives you an eye for beauty those who dont experience it are blind to. I think you can find beauty in anything if you look.

I think because were lonely we see and notice things most people take for granted. True it causes us no end of pain because we desire those things we see so, because were only human and we have needs and wants and desires like any person stumbling through this life. But i also think that its opened our eyes in a way a person whos always had all their needs met would never truly grasp or understand.

As a kid i used to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night. Not to get into any sort of mischief but just to walk up the road and look at the stars and it felt in my innocence like this magical hidden otherworld nobody knew about and could access but me. It made me feel special for a small time in other words.

I think the way i live sometimes im in love with loneliness. Sometimes i realize ill never be like anybody reading this, or anybody else who will ever live but at the same time im just like everybody, every single one of you. Just stumbling through, trying to make sense of it all. Theres a certain satisfaction in that. A mystery i know ill never solve in this lifetime and mystery is the spice of life it makes an ordinary event magical. So in a way its been a blessing, a gift throughout my life.

I can see things in people and places that everybody overlooks, they dont take the time to stop and notice the children smiling, or couples in love, or the silent strong way trees watch over us and provide us with shade and oxygen that keeps us alive. Or even just a quiet breeze blowing that caresses your cheek as if to say hello. The crowds in too big a hurry to notice something so simple and everyday. Not lonely people. We see it, and sometimes it speaks to us in a quiet still voice reminding us were never truly alone.

I think when loneliness hurts, thats just the only way it knows to communicate with us to let us know its still there. Ive been thinking about all the times ive been rejected, in my early life and my now life of solitude and isolation ala hermit mode. How people reject me, dont understand me, think wrong things about me, take me the wrong way etc. Thats a blessing too because i would never be able to connect with those people and they have nothing to offer me so it saves time from dealing with them. When people hurt you or disregard you and set themselves on a pedestal like is human nature its also human nature to want to hate those people and be angry with them etc. But the truth is everybodys just confused because our eyes are closed in this life and they cant see the bigger picture that were all in this together. That is the loneliest knowledge of all. But i keep it safe because its important somehow.

A person who doesnt experience the level of loneliness some of us do will never know simple truths like these. Theyll never understand the simple joy of people watching and being invisible amongst the billions swarming around like a bevy of ants milling back and forth on their unspoken buzzing rounds in the hive.

I use imagination as a tool to help with loneliness and sometimes i imagine im on a giant ark drifting through space and everybody else is asleep and im sort of caretaker for the ship. Its just a little thing in the back of my mind that helps me deal with it all.

It got me thinking too though what is it that really makes us lonely? We all just want connection, with another human being, to be needed, wanted and loved, to most of all be understood and accepted. To be a part of something. And i think im pretty foolish sometimes when i look at nature and life going on all around me. I am as are all of us always no matter what we do or how much we hide ,still a part of this world. We may not get the acknowledgement some get but we matter. Each and every one of us. Including you reading this.

I hope one day if you havent yet, that you find beauty in loneliness too and peace for your life.

God bless and good journeys.

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I think I'm in love with you

Expressed much more eloquently than i could why I like to be alone quite a bit of the time, I think of it as solitude tho.

Theres so much beauty in the world and I do think being alone heightens our appreciation of it, especially in an urban environment at night or the countryside early in the morning.

I've spent less time than others with others but I've seen so many incredibly beautiful things, experienced so many haunting, secret environments and noises and stuff, and experienced them in ways others wouldn't be able to.

Anyone else here keep thinking about taking up photography but never get round to it?

I'm gonna rob that quote you used.

Hey I didn't want this thread to die after I'd posted - hope I didn't weird anyone out cos I was only joking but this topic really hits a nerve with me in a good way.

I work with learning disabled ppl sometimes and sometimes I wonder what's going through their heads also due to their communication not being the same as the "norm". Clearly some of the people I work with are lonely too, sometimes I think that maybe being lonely myself I'm one of the few ppl that work with them with a life empty (in a good way) enough that I can acknowledge that and communicate through body language, eye contact, general non bossiness etc that they're not alone/ communicate common humanity that gets forgotten normally.

I think all the ships passing in the night stuff is good. Dunno don't want to kill this thread.