Academic Essay on Loneliness
“Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better” says by Henry Rollins. Most people, however, are terrified of living alone. They are used to living with others – children with parents, roommates with roommates, friends with friends, and husbands with wives.
But I think everyone needs to know how to live along because in our life circumstances often force people to live alone. For example, many high school and college graduates move away from their hometowns and continue their educations or take jobs. Also, married people might feel they will always be together, but currently one out of two marriages ends in divorce or even sadder: the death of a spouse. These facts show that most people have to live by themselves at least once in their lives whether they want to or not.
One good way to prepare for living alone is to learn how to take care of practical matters. For example, some students and newly single people might not know how to do something as simple as opening a checking account. When divorced or widowed people were married, perhaps the other spouse did the choosing or the couple made the decisions together. But how long can a person manage with a refrigerator that cannot be repaired or a car that will not run?
The confidence that single people get from learning to deal with practical matters can boost their chances for establishing new friendships. When singles feel self-reliant, they can have an easier time getting out and meeting new people. Likewise, the idea of going alone to the beach or to parties can paralyze some singles. However, people alone usually find that almost everyone welcomes a new, friendly face.
Probably the most difficult problem for people living alone is dealing with feelings of loneliness. At first, they have to understand the feeling. Some people confuse being alone with feeling lonely. I think they need to remember that unhappily married people can feel very lonely with spouses, and anyone can suffer from loneliness in a room crowded with friends. Second, people living alone have to fight any tendencies to get depressed. Depression can also drive people to fill the feeling of emptiness by getting into relationships or jobs that they do not truly want.
Sometimes, for a short time, loneliness becomes my best friend and at this time I like...