Longing and the Phenomenon of Loneliness

Abstract

Longing is essentially a phenomenon that involves an intense wish to remove the physical, mental or spiritual distance which separates the self from anyone or anything deemed desirable. This presentation will focus on that non-exotic, non-esoteric type of longing termed loneliness, an affliction that, arguably, has been humankind’s universal nemesis since the dawn of its consciousness.¹ The paper will consider loneliness, first, as a lack or loss of intimate and meaningful personal and/or personified relationships; secondly, as a negative kind of aloneness; and, thirdly, as a complex of negative emotional and physical traits. It will also sketch the nature of its spatial and temporal modalities — yearning, missing and grieving — as well as its etiology, duration, typology and some of its cognate and family phenomena such as lonesomeness, homesickness, homelessness and nostalgia. Finally, it will examine the ways in which the longing of loneliness signifies a lack or loss of belonging.