I'm so sorry to hear your marriage has dissolved, Paul. I am really glad you've found help in WTFA; it's actually the one I've been turning to most myself in the past several months, as we deal with my wife's cancer recurrence. Truly fantastic, helpful, and profound book.
It's interesting that you (nor Chodron) don't fully distinguish between loneliness and aloneness, which is customary in contemporary (pop) psychology / therapy discourse. Intuitively this feels right to me: while the feeling of being lonely (perceived as unpleasant emotion/feeling) in the company of others is a thing, I think it's merely an echo of the "original" experience of being physically alone, a fundamentally scary experience for the hypersocial human animal.
Sorry for your pain, Paul, but grateful you wrote and shared this piece for us.
I'm so sorry to hear your marriage has dissolved, Paul. I am really glad you've found help in WTFA; it's actually the one I've been turning to most myself in the past several months, as we deal with my wife's cancer recurrence. Truly fantastic, helpful, and profound book.
Thanks Amod. Sorry to hear about your wife. Dedicating the merit of my practice to her and hoping for her recovery.
It's interesting that you (nor Chodron) don't fully distinguish between loneliness and aloneness, which is customary in contemporary (pop) psychology / therapy discourse. Intuitively this feels right to me: while the feeling of being lonely (perceived as unpleasant emotion/feeling) in the company of others is a thing, I think it's merely an echo of the "original" experience of being physically alone, a fundamentally scary experience for the hypersocial human animal.
The irresolvable paradox of being alone & together