Displaying Category: Emotional

Tanya Davis wrote this wonderful poem called, oddly enough, "How To Be Alone," which she put to (some) music and filmed with the help of Andrea Dorfman. Please watch the resulting video: How To Be Alone.

Personally, I love it. Probably because it speaks so much to how I live my life. Maybe not entirely with the same joy that Tanya expresses, but I do do these things, both because I like to and because, as someone who is alone, I have to. What's important in all this, though, is my primary credo: I shalt not sacrifice mine life for lack of someone to experience it with. In other words, don't not do things because you don't have anyone to do them with. Don't miss out on great movies because you're friends are too lame to join you. Don't eat ramen when you could be out enjoying a meal at a nice restaurant. Don't avoid the park because you're afraid of looking odd by yourself. Don't miss a chance to see a great band because you're friends complain they don't know the music. Don't be afraid to sit at home and get drunk in the silence or go out and get dizzy watching the crowds go about their shopping at the mall. Live your life, whether with others or by yourself.

I do all of those things, often happily. Am I happy all the time? Nay, I am not. Though I am happily alone, I am unhappily lonely. Those are different states and I still get them confused depending on the perspective. I will say that there are lots of things I would really like to do with someone or someones and I often miss spending time with my friends and loved ones. But I firmly and steadfastly believe that even without these people around, there is life to be lived and I don't want to miss out. What about you? What do you do or would like to do alone?

I know what you're thinking, fortune cookies, but that's actually where stupid "...in bed." jokes and lucky numbers come from. True wisdom comes from webcomics. One of my favorites is Questionable Content, but now, thanks to Jeph of QC, I have discovered Girls With Slingshots. I've spent several days working my way through the archives (and I'm still a long way from catching up), during which time I have come upon dozens of funny and relevant comics. And today, this one is particularly poignant.

Not because I pay off bartenders to keep my secrets, but because I want what I expect everyone wants: to be loved. And while the opposite of loved isn't very nice, the worst is finding yourself outside the scope of that particular spectrum. To be invisible is to be nothing. That is what loneliness, and that is where I find myself... If finding oneself while invisible makes any sense at all.

Anyway, GWS is a really great comic, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

Eight hours of a Dashboard Confessional station on Pandora is like liquid emo in my ears. It burns...