I've been thinking a lot about loneliness lately. Partially because I feel kinda lonely living in Frisco, away from most of my friends and family in the East Bay, partially because St. Valentine's Day is coming up, that annual commercialized love-fest where people who are not happily (or unhappily) coupled are often made to feel as if they have some horrid congenital defect.
I've been noticing and thinking a lot lately that many people in this world (coupled or not) are lonely. You can see it on their faces on BART or the bus, you can read it in their blogs, you can sense how people hide their loneliness behind the thin veneer of their fascination with pop culture entertainment or fashion or any other potentially distracting habit. It saddens me that so many people are lonely--especially in a city like San Francisco, which is so densely packed that often I feel like a tiny ant crammed into the claustrophia-inducing spaces of the city's elevators or public transit systems--at the same time that I know that loneliness is just one condition of human existence. And that loneliness, too, will pass. At least for most people.
This year, I've decided to send love-notes out to my friends (coupled or not), in addition to celebrating V-day with my sweetie. If Valentine's Day is supposed to be about love, then why don't we also acknowledge, honor and celebrate the people we love non-romantically? What happened to the cute little ritual that we carried out in grammar school, where we gave cheesy, store-bought Valentines cards to all of our classmates? I think that should continue way past the 5th grade. Love for your fellow human beings doesn't end when you hit puberty--or does it?
Something to think about,
Rona
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Greetings from rural Massachusetts
11 hours ago
2 comments:
love shd certainly be celebrated every day. it would be nice to see hearts everywhere every day. it might just be an antidote to the loneliness you mentioned.
i like it when i read honest and personal entries on blogs. i don't see them a lot, as much as i look for them all the time. i have also found myself being extremely cautious about what i put out there, to the point of saying, so why do this? things to think about while taking my time off. but this blog of yours reminds me of the possibilities.
i've always wanted to blog about sex. the politics of sex is so great to write and read about. maybe when i come back. in the meantime, i will read blogs during breakfast. (pix i posted may be a hint of things to come?)
anyway, good morning r!
Hey Bino,
thanks for yr comments. I do think it must be harder for someone like yourself, whose public persona is much bigger than mine and therefore gets held accountable for lots of things (personal or not) that you 'put out there', to feel comfortable being as intimate as you might like to be on yr blogs.
but I, for one, want to hear it! and el serenito waxing philosophical and political about sex...well, that's something to look forward to! ;-) Enjoy yr myheowbernation! R.
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