Withdrawal can be a solution to stress and cauterized is correct in saying it depends on the person. I know I don't speak for the general case, but for me personally time alone withdrawn from other people is absolutely essential to experience the joy of life and feeling good about myself. That is not to say that I don't enjoy time with family and friends, but I become morose and listless if I go too long without withdrawing from people.
I get frustrated when I read articles like this and comments like yours. I understand intellectually and through secondhand experience of others how crippling loneliness and isolation can be for most people. However, I can honestly say that I have no memories of ever having felt "lonely" in the way described as the article and I know myself well enough to know what makes me happy. Telling me that because my life doesn't fit your pattern I must be unhappy is a bit presumptuous, don't you think?
> Telling me that because my life doesn't fit your pattern I must be unhappy is a bit presumptuous, don't you think?
No, what I’m telling you is that because your goal is evidently not to enjoy life no matter what — you’d rather feel morose and listless and frustrated at times — your solutions (withdrawal) are of no relevance to someone whose goal is to enjoy life no matter what (bien dans ma peau and joie de vivre).
You really are presumptuous, aren't you? OK. Let's assume my goal is not to be morose and listless, but to enjoy life no matter what. What is your suggestion?
Indeed not, and the irony of you asking the question is not lost on me. I am not telling you what to do (thereby failing to observe the limits of what is permitted or appropriate) — your goal is evidently not to enjoy life no matter what (you’d rather feel morose and listless and frustrated at times) — rather I’m conveying that what you, the nihilists and the spiritualists are doing (withdrawal) is a second-rate solution for the purpose of enjoying life no matter what.
Is it really that difficult to grasp such a simple thing?
> Let's assume my goal is not to be morose and listless, but to enjoy life no matter what. What is your suggestion?
To not withdraw, of course, as a reaction to stress is not the same as a solution to (ending of) it.
I get frustrated when I read articles like this and comments like yours. I understand intellectually and through secondhand experience of others how crippling loneliness and isolation can be for most people. However, I can honestly say that I have no memories of ever having felt "lonely" in the way described as the article and I know myself well enough to know what makes me happy. Telling me that because my life doesn't fit your pattern I must be unhappy is a bit presumptuous, don't you think?