Since my youngest is currently obsessed with birds, this video of baby wrens leaving the nest is his favorite viewing.
Toward the end of the video, as the second to the last, and then the last bird fledges, it occurs to me that this is the perfect illustration of loneliness. That particular sort loneliness one might feel after all the guests have gone, a friend has moved away or any other situation where you are suddenly left alone with only your thoughts for company.
When I was young, this was a dreadful feeling. It seemed such a terrible thing, to be left behind. How I envied those who had gone, off on some great adventure (or maybe just life) without me. This was before I accepted that I was essentially a lonely person at heart, that loneliness - or my loneliness, at least - was an internal condition, a state of mind that no amount of companionship could ever reach.
I feel much different about these things today. Now, whenever I'm left standing on the edge of solitude, I recognize it as an end to whatever has gone before and a signal that something new is about to begin. The loneliness is only the peace that goes in between.
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