ALONE ISN'T LONELY I can honestly say that I have never been lonely.  When I was alone.  I have had a few people share with me lately that they are experiencing loneliness. Life circumstances have shifted, leaving them in some ways alone. As they shared with me I internally did what I always do when interacting with someone’s feelings: I went into my own depths in order to directly relate and empathize with what was being shared. It was that direct inquiry inside of myself that reaffirmed what I have long known.  I have never been lonely when I am alone.  I have indeed felt lonely in relationship and sometimes even in crowds. I feel lonely in relationships where there is little actual relating. When vacancy is

HURT BY LOVE? I have always had a tender, sensitive heart. From the earliest age I loved fully and easily. I loved everyone, much to my parent’s consternation. A tenderhearted, sensitive, loving boychild was sure to be hurt.  They were right.  So I decided sometime in my mid-twenties that I was going to pull back. That I was going to toughen up. That I was not going to traverse the earth as this sensitive, open, loving easy target. I had been hurt enough times by then. I knew it was time to put on the armor. To replace sensitivity with a bit of sarcasm. Tenderness with toughness. Love with aloofness. The hurt had to stop. I would make it stop. I would keep you at bay. If

ARE YOU HERE? “I can’t make it tomorrow. But I will be with you in spirit.”  “I know I said I was going to be there, but I’ll be there in spirit.”  “Gosh, I can’t make it again tonight, but I’ll sure be there in spirit.”  After repeated vacancies excused by the promise of terrestrial presence I finally needed to speak up.  “No thank you. Keep your spirit with you. You’ll need it.”  A prolonged silence was followed by a nervous giggle.  Things happen in life that truly do prevent us from being where we have committed to be. In my experience these occurrences are rare. It is more common to make a commitment to be somewhere and then just decide we really don’t feel like following