The Lonelies

I stayed in last night, feeling I needed some time to myself after a really busy few weeks. I puttered around. I read a book.

The Namesake. Have you read it?

I cried.

I can't remember the last time a book has moved me to tears. I wasn't crying about the characters or for the story, though. The book opened the gate to the Lonelies.

You know the place, right?

The Lonelies...

where you bring your single gal shield down, you look around, and all you see is nothing -- no one around, no sense of time, no goals, no family, no joy. Just emptiness.


The Lonelies reminds you how tired you are of being single and an orphan in a city of millions -- of the endless series of first dates, of your immediate family living thousands of miles away, of invitations to other people's weddings (I got three in one day last week), of baby announcements, of forking out cash for other people's knives and tablecloths, of finding something to do with yourself in the evenings and on the weekends, of the mounds of chores that you have to do or they don't get done.


The Lonelies inspires tears, inspires the gnashing of teeth, inspires frustration and anger.


But then, somehow, as you get older, your walk through The Lonelies changes. It inspires you. You realize you have single gal super powers -- bad ass single gal biceps and a spirit of independence and power -- and you shed a tear, leave the tears, and easily walk out of the Lonelies without weeks of eating Ben and Jerry's or Totino's Pizza Rolls. You know another relationship is around the corner. You know you can call your family or your friends. You know there are people who care about you. You know this is a between time, a time to work on yourself, a time to read the books you've wanted to read for a long time.



Like The Namesake.

Tree of Hope (c) Marisa Haedicke, 2006

http://www.creativethursday.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/fall%20tree%20of%20hope.jpg