Eric Hoffer’s words are, for all too many people, resoundingly true. The weight of desolation and despair of feeling alone can be overwhelming.
I am forgotten. To be cut off from other human beings and their love,
To be cut off from all sense of God and His love,
To be cut off from what one believes to be one’s real self,
And to be lodged in the body of a ghost,
Who has lost the power to love...
This is loneliness.
Hubert von Zeller
The Archway Foundation
For some years in my hospital work, as well as my voluntary work since the age of 18, I had seen loneliness staring at me bleakly from people of every background, belief, race and culture. There seemed to be nothing that specifically related to this huge underlying root of problems for people in our society. Yes there were (and are thankfully) the organisations for those who feel suicidal, or depressed, or who are bereaved, or in the autumn of their years. So in Oxford in 1982, I founded what became known as Archway, which is a service designed to serve those hurt by loneliness. This is a registered charity.
I recall reading an anonymous verse:
A pen appeared, and the god said:
"Write what is to be
Man." And my hand hovered
long over the bare page.
Until there, like footprints
of the lost traveller, letters
took shape on the page's
blankness, and I spelled out
The word - LONELY - And my hand
moved to erase it: but the voices
of all those waiting at life's window
cried out loud: "It is true."
What is Loneliness?
Loneliness is a self-perceived problem; it is mostly how you feel, and sometimes how you are. If people are seen as a set of problems or objects (even by the language used), then fundamental respect for people disappears. We are talking about making computer literacy available globally, yet how many people die alone and unwanted. With all our technical expertise, we cannot tackle basic social human rights, attitudes and feelings. I cannot think of anything worse than to be not wanted by anyone.
