July 22, 2009

I'll Play the Blues for You

Paulo Coelho is a pretty good writer (My very own personal understatement of the week.)and he has a really good Blog too


Recently he has asked people whether lonliness is a burden or an opportunity to look deep within ourselves


Well at the very start of this discussion we ought to reject the idea that solitude has very little to do with lonliness. Solitude has a way of allowing you the freedom to exercise your very own introspection. If you then add a lack of responsibility and loss of property then the feelings become more acute. This is one reason why travelling and adventure in foreign lands seems to expand our horizons.

Lonliness on the other hand can be so consuming that there is no room for introspection. No time for anything except thoughts of release from how you are feeling. There are many people would do just about anything to shed themselves of the dark blanket of lonliness when it covers them.
For me, lonliness is my soul, my spirit wanting to be understood and loved. No matter how busy I may be, focused on work or how many people are sharing laughter during times of social gatherings I'm still encumbered by the distance there is betwen myself and the people around me. A gulf that seems far too wide for any person to cross. Fortunately there are ways to build bridges.
Sharing and allowing others to share with us is one way that we may start the beginnings of understanding.
Maybe we are not meant to understand each other. maybe we are meant to understand only a few or even only one other person we encounter during our lives.
It is the effort we make when we attempt to find out about others that keeps lonliness at bay; not the other way around.

If you're down and out and you feel real hurt.
Come on over to the place where I work.
And all your loneliness...
I'll try to soothe I'll play the blues for you.
Don't be afraid come on in You might runacross (yeah) some of your old friends.
All your loneliness I've got to soothe.
I'll play the blues for you.
I ain't got no big name oh lord and I ain't no big star.
I'll play the blues for you on my guitar.
All your loneliness I'll try to soothe.
I'll play the blues for you


18 comments:

X. Dell said...

Funny. I spent probably too much time alone until I moved to Washington. I value solitude. I used to come home to my apartment after work and yell out, "Safe!" as though I were an umpire.

On the other hand, there's a loneliness that comes when you feel that no one understands you. After all, in New York (where I was) it's virtually impossible to be physically alone for long stretches of time. And truth be told, I often fantasize about the existence of people who speak my language.

Such a pity. I used to fantasize about sex and money. Guess I'm aiming my sights lower and lower, eh?

lime said...

i find more and more i crave solitude, partly because the company of some people is just so lonely.

if we could only understand one other and be understood by one other it would at least be nice to be with that one.

ok, it's after midnight, it's been...a day...i'll bid you goodnight before i get totally morose.

Megan said...

if you're feelin' weary
or you been alone too long
or maybe you been sufferin' from
a few too many
plans that have gone wrong
and you're tryin' to remember
how fine your life used to be
runnin' around banging your drum
like it's 1973
well that was the river
this is the sea

Kurt said...

No one understand me.

Grant said...

I'm sick of looking deep within myself. I'll trade all the introspection for a little Asian nookie.

NYD said...

X-Dell~ Your goal of finding people who "speak our language" ae certainly not lower than wishing for a fat wallet and a good time in the sack.

Lime~ I find that it is the craving for solitude that sometimes leads us upon the path of lonliness.

Megan~ I have never heard that song. Will have to take a side trip to you tube and hear it in it's entirety.

Kurt~ You are starting to sound like my students. If that wasn't a typo then you are n absolute genius and should be working alongside Ms. Fey

Grant~ I couldn't have said it better. But at this point I don't care about the nationality. "All cats are gray in the dark"

Jenny said...

I am often alone, but never lonely. I am capable of entertaining/amusing myself for large amounts of time and I see this as "peace" in my life. That said, I am in sales for a living, so during the day it is necessary for me to be "on" and that takes a toll.

I like this post and I love the blues at the end. Thanks.

X. Dell said...

Maybe. But a fat wallet and a good time in the sack sound like much more fun.

Serena said...

You're thinking very deeply today. I love -- crave -- solitude. Solitude is, of course, not to be confused with loneliness. There's a vast difference, as you've so astutely pointed out.

Great video!

secret agent woman said...

Being alone is an opportunity. I need time alone inmy life. But loneliness is a different beast.

moi said...

Lonely, I guess that's where I'm from
If I was from Canada
then I'd best be called lonesome

And if it's just a game
Then I'll break down just in case
Oh yeah, we're runnin' in our last race

Well, I laughed half the way to Tokyo
I dreamt I was Surfer Joe
An' what that means, I don't know

A dream too tired to come true
Left a rebel without a clue
And I'm searching for somethin' to do

And if it's just a game
Then we'll hold hands just the same
So what, we're bleeding but we ain't cut

And I could purge my soul perhaps
For the imminent collapse
Oh yeah, I'll tell you what we could do
You be me for a while
I'll be you

NYD said...

Boxer~ Glad you liked the post.
I also have to be 'on' throughout the day and I know just how much it can take from you.

X-Dell~ I hear ya, brother!

SJ~ Occaionally my students leave me a few brain cells and at those particularly wonderful moments I get the chance to do something more than babble.

SAW~ Most people seem to agree.

Moi~ Thanks for turning me on to the Replacements. At first I thought the band was the same one that did the Friends theme song.
You can't really blame me for getting the Rembrandts mixed up with the Replacements, can you?

Mona said...

The one thing that misguide people is that they confuse Aloneness for loneliness.
Aloneness is Ultimate. Whenever we have a profound experience we feel aloneness after that. It is like moving away from the periphery( where one is in constant touch with others) to your center.Aloneness is when you are complete in yourself. Loneliness on the other hand is just the opposite. It is a state when the 'other' ( man , woman , or a book , anything else)is needed to fill the emptiness in you.
Aloneness is when you are full and overflowing. So much so, that you are ready to share it with others. You are the king , the giver, and you never empty out even if you keep sharing constantly. Loneliness on the other hand is state when you are are a beggar, begging for your emptiness to be filled...

Out of Aloneness will arise undying, overflowing love. Out of loneliness will arise possessiveness and politics.

moi said...

You can't really blame me for getting the Rembrandts mixed up with the Replacements, can you?

Your penance: Two spins of Raw Power and three of Never Mind the Bollocks.

Aunty Belle said...

often wondered who liked more solitude--men or women. I prefers large chunks of solitude the older I grow.

Love the blues.

Haiku Master said...

Biscuits and gravy.
And call the rising sun a
mortal enemy.

NYD said...

Mona~ You sure do think deeply about this stuff, don't you?

Moi~ How about if I just pop in my DVD of Spinaltap? Will that be pennance enough?

Aunty~ Although my gut reaction would be to say men, I know that it's easy to group people by gender. I know both men and women who like their privacy and solitude as well as those who can't live without the company of others.

Haiku Master~ I have no idea what Image you want me to get from this?

You do realize, don't you, that I live in Japan?

Mayden' s Voyage said...

I really enjoyed reading this post...I started to write a chapter of a reply, and then thought- "No, I'm just going to let this one sink in."

So I am <3