"A balm for loneliness."

Everyone desires, to some extent, to walk, share, and live life with others. No matter how vehemently we attempt to suffocate it, we have some inherent inclination towards intimacy. Yet the more we strive to mollify this appetite, the more we realize the futility of our efforts. Some might seek satisfaction through friendships, a posse or two, or a spouse or two. Yet as we become increasingly "intimate," what we see is that we are being driven further apart, further into discovering the depth of the reality and inevitability of our apart-ness. Perhaps our greatest commonality is that we are each living a "long loneliness" all our own on our own. This is why I don't enjoy being with people all the time. This is why, I think, solitude can be a balm for loneliness.