Loneliness isn’t always the sound of an empty room.

 

Loneliness isn’t always the sound of an empty room.

Sometimes it’s found in a cluttered kitchen counter, a bursting inbox, or your little one calling, “Mom, mom, mom, Mom!” over and over. Sometimes loneliness comes wrapped in the glittery bow of productivity and completed to-do lists. Sometimes it sneaks in on the best days, in the highlight moments of life, when you seem surrounded by good.

Loneliness surprises me.

I think I know how to recognize it: the silence, the echo of my thoughts bouncing off the walls of my brain, the feeling of being left out, unheard, or overlooked.

But loneliness?

It likes to hide within the noise.

It hides in tired eyes that no one seems to notice. It hides in the cracks and crevices of the typical day. I’ve felt it after racing here and there, after doing laundry and sweeping and cleaning and prepping dinner and helping with homework and rarely being asked, “How are you today?” after a day spent meeting everyone else’s needs.

Does anyone see me? Does anyone care?

And then the sigh. The breath.

And then, going right back to doing what needs to be done.

Loneliness doesn’t always look like being alone.

Sometimes it can be sitting at a table with friends or in a crowd and still feeling invisible. It can be found in doing all the right things — laughing on cue, answering messages, volunteering, staying busy — and still, deep within there is this ache, this longing for a connection that goes beyond the surface.

I know. I’ve felt that, too.

It’s surprising how quickly it can creep in and how deep it can feel.

Am I the only one?

Sometimes it feels like everyone else is moving and everyone else’s plans are unfolding, and there we are: stuck. Stuck is the loneliness of lonely places, at least for me. Stuck is lonely because who wants to say, “Look at me! I’m so stuck and I’m so alone!”

So instead, we stay quiet. It feels safer. We shrink and think, “I must be the only one.” But so often, others are walking right next to us, wondering if they, too, are the only ones.

I’ve wondered that so many times.

Loneliness is the master of disguise, honestly.

Sometimes it looks like fierce independence, sometimes like strength, and sometimes it’s within the words, “I’m fine.”

But here’s what I’ve learned: loneliness doesn’t mean something is wrong with me. Or you. It means WE ARE HUMAN. It means we are created and wired for this connection and depth, and a friend, a person seeing us and saying, “Me too. I see you.” It means my soul, your soul, has a part that wants to be seen, appreciated, and valued.

And that? That’s not weakness. It’s beautiful.

It’s part of being human.

So my dear friend, if today you’re feeling that ache, that one that often can’t be described with words, please know this: you are not alone.

You are not the only one.

You are not broken.

You are not too much or too little.

I see you. I appreciate you. I am proud of you. I value you.

I’m so proud of you for showing up, giving, and loving.

Sometimes it just takes one person to remind us that we’re seen and matter.

And today, today, that just might be me to you.

~Rachel

Source: Finding Joy on Facebook