The Vaccine For Loneliness

The Silent Enemy

Over and over we have heard that humanity is under attack. There is a silent, deadly enemy out there and if we are not vigilant it will take our life.

It is true. We need to continue to stand guard against this virus, each of us self-isolating and social-distancing to do our part.  However, the deeper we go into isolation, the longer we social-distance, the more it becomes obvious that there is another enemy we are all facing, one which is waiting right there in our homes, in our isolation, and in our hearts. It is a virus which no amount of hand-sanitizer, anti-viral wipes or man-made vaccines can eradicate. It is the virus of loneliness.

This time of coronavirus has been a shock to our society and to each and everyone of us in a myriad of ways. It has stopped us in our tracks, given us little choice other than to slow down, to sit down and to be alone. In this aloneness, many of us are starting to get itchy and twitchy, realizing that no amount of live-streaming videos, video-conferencing meetings, or Netflix binging apocalyptic TV series (note to self, watching “The Walking Dead” was a  mistake) will make go away. It isn’t being alone that is the issue. Rather, it is loneliness we are talking about.

Now that there is less shopping, less working, less socializing, less go-go-go, do-do-do frenetic energy in our society  we can more easily confront this issue.

Sit In Your Loneliness

As God said in the Biblical creation story, “it is not good for a person to be lonely.”

It is not good.

Loneliness is the  source of all of humanity’s destruction and a person’s misery. Now that we are forced to sit still and be present we are feeling it’s grip.  In the words of Blaise Pascal, “all of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

Unlike coronavirus, however, there is a vaccine to loneliness. It isn’t a vaccine you have to go somewhere to get. However, you do need to sit around and wait for it. Sit and be still. Sit and be quiet. Sit and be present. If you having been inoculated from your loneliness yet, then sit, and sit, and sit and sit.

Coronavirus Opportunity

Yes, this is an overwhelming, uncertain and scary time. However, it is not a time without opportunity. We can use these few weeks, or few months, or however long it might last (but it won’t last forever) to improve, to grow and to be done living a life of avoidance:  a-void-dance, a dance around the void. The void at the center of our society, our life and within our heart. The void of loneliness.

The blessing of coronavirus is that we have the opportunity to finally and fully stop dancing around the void and start sitting within the void. It isn’t easy, but it is possible, and it is the only way to cure this virus in our society, in our family and in our life.

It begins at home, with you, right now, right where you are.

We hope you will join us at Soul Centered and one of our Soul Centered Experiences – live, on-line, every night at 7 pm (MST). We created Soul Centered and these experiences to help all of us learn to sit, to be still, to be present and to make  the shift from a life of dancing around the void to a journey of sitting through the void.

So turn off Netflix, hit pause on your video-conference, and put the brakes on your Solecycle. There will be plenty of time to watch, to work or to run. However, now is your opportunity to sit and be still, sit and be quiet, sit and finally be free.

You can participate in all Soul Centered Experiences live on Facebook or watch recorded on the Soul Centered website.