Do we really tend to lead a lonely existence? As a Catholic I was taught that I was made from ash and I will return to ash, which is a very uplifting message, don’t you think? I have heard it said that we are born into the world alone and we will die alone. I find that difficult to believe.
There were at least three people in the room with me when I was born; the doctor, a nurse and of course my mother (it was the 70’s, so I assume my dad was pacing the waiting room with a box of cigars), so how was I alone at birth? I have been surrounded by people my whole life, I come from a family with two brothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I had grandparents, great grandparents, have godparents and relatives I’ve only seen but a few times but are still connected to me.
I went to public school and continue to maintain relationships with people I met when I moved to the town I grew up in.
I went to college in a city that was filled with young and old and the school was in the heart of one of the oldest cities in America. Walking around Boston in the middle of the night, one could feel the presence of the ghosts of the founding fathers of America, and the natives who inhabited this land far before.
The majority of my on air experience, when I was a disc jockey, was in the middle of the night. I was alone, physically in a room, but I was talking to hundreds of thousands of people (millions if you believe some of the ratings). When I do my podcast, usually I sit alone in a room, talking into a microphone, but I share the show with an old friend and we produce using Skype. Hundreds of people listen to us when they choose. Sure, podcasting is an experience that one usually does alone, but we are all connected by the content.
When I was in school, I lived in a dorm. For the majority of the time, I inhabited a single room, but was surrounded by people. I lived with roommates after school, and even lived with a woman who would become my first wife.
I didn’t actually live alone, until I was divorced, four years ago and the experience has been interesting. We all desire for time to sit quietly in our own space. We can do what we want, explore our own thoughts and sometimes get so far inside our heads that we feel isolated… alone.
Episode notes on RFJ #6: “Clouds In My Coffee”