“If you are lonely when you are alone, you are in bad company”

By Iarina Chiciu. Iarina, 16, is a student at C.N. Gheorghe Vrănceanu school in Bacău, Romania. Please read her entry and leave your comments below. (*Shortlisted for the 2018 prize!)

Nice one,Sartre. Neat, to say the least.

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t have anything against Sartre, albeit he may be a bit saccharine for my taste. You know, the whole philosophy fling: he harnessed this deep, fervent, irrefutable fondness towards Sophia and it all came to fruition, as he is considered to be one of the most influential philosophers of all time. Good for him.

I can’t help but solemnly respect Sartre for his performance in his field. However, when it comes to the quote that grimly inaugurated this essay , I am forced to morph into Schrodinger’s feline pet.

From one point of view (no Exotropia reference intended), feeling lonely in the absence of others is only natural and should not be condemned . When one is surrounded by other people, or maybe even just a person, one can indulge in the act of blissful ignorance. For example, one can immerse himself in the universe of conversational quasi-platitudes as a means to escape their sinuous trail of thought. As ineffective in the long run and depressing as it is, this exchange of superficialities acts so deftly as a temporary fix that an academy award might just be on its way.

Being alone, on the other hand, can offer no such portal. A short period of being alone is acceptable, whereas long-term seclusion encourages the raw thought, the unfiltered feeling, an awakening of the senses that is often too powerful a rush for people to handle.

Obviously, there might be ways through which people can understand that spiraling downwards in their own brains is highly detrimental and ways through which they can engage in an amiable but firm action to tame the slippery slope that is the human mind, but such instructions are a way to approach things lightly: we’re talking about the human mind, not a nightstand from Ikea.

There’s nothing wrong in seeking company. Having another person around you comes with a specific and otherwise unachievable sense of comfort as the human mind is not able to duplicate the warmth and the compassion that humans give off even without realizing.

On the other hand, the only thing a person is sure to have for the entirety of their life is themselves. This should be a recurring thought which would prevent people from depending on others company so as to feel complete.

Feeling lonely whilst being alone is highly understandable; not being at peace with yourself and desperately needing people in order not to feel alone is a problem that can become crippling if out of hand. There are times when each and every person no longer has their caterers of support .In those moments, people are bound to seek solace within themselves. This chore  seems inexpiable to the one that labeled their mind as bad company ,so the only feasible thing is to let room for helplessness to settle in, right?

Regardless of how we managed when engaged in direct combat with math, we still are the architects of our intrinsic universe: we project through ourselves according to our beliefs and hope for the best.

Thus, I believe that it is only a matter of choice whether we want to be the masters of a blooming edifice or the inhabitants of a derelict structure.

Nice one, Sartre. Neat, to say the least.

2 comments on ““If you are lonely when you are alone, you are in bad company”

  1. Cristina on

    Da, un big Like!
    Mi-a plăcut nespus abordarea oarecum platoniciana… Ideea înnăscută (loneliness) “analizată” pe toate-i fațetele de autoare intr-un “dialog” cu sine însăși or de ce nu cu propria-i “human mind” pe post de discipol…

    Reply

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