A Loneness
A Loneness, a memorable painting by my friend, an artist who also cast bronzes of mythical self reflective entities like Ouroboros, presented a canid like profile, gazing in rapture at a full moon. The artists’ perspective, from behind (within) the beast, symbolizes our collective search for Meaning. A journey undertaken by all sentient beings, a journey that began long before humans walked the Earth.
My clinical work as a Pain Specialist, focused on easing the pain and suffering of my fellow beings, led to the well documented linkages between Pain, clinically associated with the Body, and Suffering, a condition of Mind that is even harder to characterize, objectively.
Suffering is linked to both Self awareness, and unrequited Desire, as noted by the sage of the Shakyas over 2,500 years ago. These precepts have relevance in modern capitalistic cultures, with their insistent marketing and suggestive advertisements that promote materialistic acquisitions as the principal marker of success and, by extension, Happiness.
Yet, given the freedom to engage in these mindless activities, regardless of our wealth (status) and the extent of our acquisitions, we suffer horribly. Our Hearts (Psyche) are empty, living lives without grace.
One aspect of widespread suffering, endemic to materialistic cultures, is Loneliness. As Janis Joplin sang so wistfully, many decades ago, “… freedom is just another word, for nothing left to lose…”.
Compassion, and the accumulative wisdom associated with its practice, is a remedy enjoined by cultures that recognize the power of grace. Compassion helps us overcome feelings of isolation, the proximate cause of Loneliness. It is a message worth repeating, in our troubled times.
WE must distinguish between occasionally feeling Aloneness, an unmistakable sign of sentience and self awareness, from the isolating complementarity of Loneliness.
Living Alone, Sociocultural Trends
The 2020 U.S. census found that approximately ~ 30% of all households were one-person households in 2020, up from ~8% since 1940, with the largest increase between 1970 and 1980.
Seniors (65+ y.o.) living alone have been increasing steadily since the 1990s. Counties with the largest numbers of this cohort were found in the central Midwest, along with Florida, Maine, and Oregon.
Based on recent (2015) data from National Center for Family & Marriage Research, approximately two thirds of 65+ year old women live alone, as do about half the similarly aged male cohort.
Loneliness affects ~30-40% of these cohorts, and unresolved stress soon follows, according to a recent (2023) National Poll on Healthy Aging. Both conditions lead to worsening of health status.
This is why I promote movement therapies as a nondrug investment in personal integrative health, regardless of age. Better physical health, i.e., higher capacity for mobility, e.g., brisk walking, and the activities of daily living (ADL), protects not only our Body but also our Mind.
