ALONE

 

A series of essays....

“WE ENTER THE WORLD ALONE, WE LEAVE THE WORLD ALONE.”

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

"We enter the world alone, we leave the world alone," a quote by the English writer and historian, James Anthony Froude, in the mid 1800's. Orson Welles added his own spin when he said, "We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone."

Variations on a theme. 

With eyelids carrying the day’s exhaustion, I tuck my pillow beneath my neck and slowly curl into a fetal position, my future dreams taking me down the haunted path of aloneness.

What is the reasoning behind this dour feeling?

I spend hours inspiriting a sensation of acceptance knowing that this vast, natural world is cradling me within its arms even when people fail to do so. Surely, I cannot be alone when I hear the joyful birdsong drifting among the tree branches, piercing the morning haze as I listen from my cozy bed.

I am not alone when I open my eyes and Nature’s concert carries me through simple morning routines: making coffee and relishing the first sip, brushing my hair and deciding what to wear, and drifting to my desk to begin my workday with a second cup of steaming coffee poured from the carafe on the kitchen counter.

Certainly, I could not be alone when the lively conversation between husband and wife of a gentle, spring evening clings to me like a second skin. Sitting side-by-side while plotting, planning, and dreaming of a time with mixed desires of future travel and moving back up north near family and friends. Life will never slow down if we do not allow it to slow down.

Can we be alone with others so nearby?

The realization hits me as if it were a hammer striking truth deep inside my brain—I am successfully 'creating the illusion' that best fits within my life's mold. I see the fine line between actual and contrived. It divides my thoughts like a gossamer web stretching between two solid objects.  

"Only through our love and friendship...." 

How much control do we truly have? The pieces float along the gentle breeze and match one shape into another adapted for accuracy and exactness like the pieces of a machine-cut puzzle. We are instruments of the grand illusion—living in the moment.

We are on the outside looking in.

Within the span of time we become thinkers, dreamers, artists and imagineers. A puppetmaster of our own world. Alone, I see the color blue. Alone, you see the color gold. Alone, I am bombarded and assailed by words and phrases. Alone, you create beauty from stone and mortar.

As we differentiate between fantasy and reality, we decide

when to choose love over hatred, or when to stand alone or follow the masses, or the right time to employ common sense or become a loose cannon—potentially causing damage to this beautiful planet and the people we share it with.

Do we believe in the rights of women worldwide or do we crush equality between men and women like so many generations of organized religions and cultures have done before us? 

Will honest souls prevail and black-hearted souls be crushed by their own cowardly deeds?

I sit upon the edge of my bed in the shadows of the early morning and chant "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to my personal deity. I do so in appreciation of my life and the well-being of those I love. My prayer is carried out into the ethos on the wings of angels.

James and Orson, I remain grateful to both of you for your insight.

Vironika Tugaleva, an inspirational speaker and healing coach from the Ukraine, explains that, "The greatest tool of self-love is self-awareness. Once you truly know yourself, love is the only option."

Self-Love.

If love and friendship creates the illusion, for the moment, that we are not alone, then we must learn to be our own best friend and love ourselves with the passion and grace that we would afford to every other living soul around us.

In summary: We are alone with our thoughts and ideas. We create a glass-domed world around us in order to protect these thoughts and ideas. However, we must constantly watch our own beliefs because they will become the words of the people we draw into our inner sanctum.

Live—Laugh—Love for today! Tomorrow we will leave this world, all alone. May we make the best choices for ourselves and everyone around us in the meantime.

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

Photo Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved