A potent teacher: loneliness

There is an increasing sense of loneliness in our world, especially prominent within the post-pandemic reflection. Have we become so busy in our modern lives as a means to avoid and contain a sense of disconnection? All loneliness really indicates is a sense of separateness from others or from our environment. When you look into the energetics of someone who has identified a sense of loneliness, you see a resistance in the solar plexus, creating a ball of stuck energy slowly festering without abating. It seems as if, it is simply our time to experience this void of connection in order to reverse engineer its brilliance.

There’s no shortage of reasons why we can justify distancing ourselves from others, anything from judgement to self-preservation and back around to plain old entitlement. We can easily create a world where a lack of connection is caught out straight away, and yet, genuine connection can go underappreciated. I have found in my work, that more awareness means we experience emotional states with more acuity, whether we like it or not. If you evolve yourself beyond your current state, even through a healing event, a revelation, a triumph or a spiritual experience, this means an upgrade in every part of who you are, which also increases your sensitivity to duality.

With more light, you will always experience more darkness. This is not to discourage progression and self-development, but to welcome its duality and any senses that might be heightened. The trick is to stay a witness to it all. Not become it. Not identify with it. Not attach to it. Just witness, learn and let go. In light of all things as a teacher, this loneliness that is appearing from the depths of our being is here for us to grow through. Not to avoid. If we embrace, face and actually experience what it is that gives us that impending sense of isolation, we can learn from the belly of the beast itself. Most people report feeling the most lonely when in the company of others, especially in big crowds.

This precursor must not equate to the rational justification of simply identifying people as the problem. Instead, we must look for the subtle reasons why a big crowd leads to the separation of self and inner connection. Especially with increasing signs of spiritual awakening, we can deeply investigate which types of energies cause a split between you and source. People are not the problem, however, choosing environments without careful selection, and without preparation, can often be the problem.

For example, if during a healing retreat or spiritual transformation; one realised that self-criticism has created much suffering over a lifetime. When placed in a situation that invokes a critical nature or surrounded by individuals with an evident inner critic, this force will push against what has been healed and bring pressure towards reinvigorating the wound. When a deep healing happens, make sure to carefully choose situations in alignment with the healing's wise words.

The healed inner critic, in order to keep in alignment with further freedom, would need to seek out others that no longer carry this burden also. When it comes to loneliness, could we choose more carefully the situations that aid connection rather than separateness, for our own sense of self-love and nurturing? This might be choosing environments where others feel connected also. This might mean choosing indpendence over forced social norms. This might mean confronting loneliness head-on with ancient practices like vision quests, spiritual pilgrimage or even intentional solitude in order to learn from the depth of this teacher.

For the sake of our health and our evolution, it might be time to offer loneliness a seat at the table. Let it into our hearts so we can use it to better understand ourselves. If it helps, imagine loneliness as a stray animal. You are not responsible for its care, nor should you coax it to stay if it doesn't want to. Give it a warm place to stop and rest and share some insights together. It will move on to the next place as soon as you both have gathered all that is necessary. If you feed loneliness and attach to it as an identity, it might just stay forever. So be mindful of your interaction and watch things transmute and change.