Loneliness and connection are not enemies, rather two facets of everyone’s life. We just need to get to know them. That’s especially true of loneliness, so that, far from being oppressive or a threat, it can become an opportunity or a learning point. Through loneliness we can learn to bond with ourselves and with others. Far from consuming our self-esteem or wearing us out, aloneness can prove an ally in the exciting and complicated battles of life. All we need to do is to discern the heart song of loneliness, so we can learn how to guide our emotions to cope with it. This heart song consists of our acceptance and desire, our lucidity and awareness, our memory and hope, our faith and inner turmoil. All of that is in this book: loneliness and connection. Silence and music.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword by Brian Grogan SJ
• Introduction
• Part One: Loneliness, That Untimely Lover
  • 1. The Human Archipelago
  • 2. Anything for a Cuddle
  • 3. The Signs of Loneliness
• Part Two: Reasons for Loneliness
  • 4. A Few Personal Reasons
  • 5. Is the Media to Blame? Communication Lockdown
  • 6. Existential Reasons for Loneliness: Three Great Contemporary Wounds
• Part Three: Tango for One
  • 7. ‘Kid, Make Your Mind Up. You Can’t Have It All.’
  • 8. The Tango of Expectation
  • 9. What about Me? Selfies or Snapshots
  • 10. Feel the Fear
  • 11. You’re Magnificent
  • 12. Someone Else’s Shoes: Judgement and Prejudices.
  • 13. You Need to Start Taking Yourself Seriously
  • 14. Dancing with Death
• Part Four: Encounters
  • 15. My Tribe
  • 16. Your People
  • 17. Dancing Alone
  • 18. The Interior Life: Is There Anyone out There?
• Conclusion Two Final Images: Battle Scars and Borders