Isolation

April 9, 2008 /


(picture found here)

I was IMing with Dot yesterday, musing about ideas for an ‘I’ post. Ice Cream. Ikky. iPod. Ichabod Crane. Isolation. Isolation…I like that one, so I’ll run with it. Sorry, Dot, if you wanted it. You can have Ichabod, or go with Idolatry, Idiots, Ingenious, Idealism, Inspiration, Instant Messaging…whatever you want.

Really, I shouldn’t take this one from Dot, because she gave me the thought as well, which was how we all feel, at least sometimes, like we’re alone in this world, that we’re the only one going through crap and no one really understands. And yet, you talk to someone, and they say, Yes, yes, I get it. I’ve been there, I have felt that pain. You are not alone.

But now, here I am, trying to figure out what I want to say about isolation, about alienation and that first time you realize, deep down, that you are the only one in the universe who truly understands YOU, (with the possible exception of your dog) and therefore, you are truly alone in some way. After that realization, perhaps you make attempts to connect with those around you. Perhaps you write poetry, or songs. Perhaps you go to church, or temple. Perhaps you fall into drugs or drink. But really, the best way to get past the feeling of being alone, like Sting’s castaway, is to talk to your friends and family, to discover that they have those times as well, times when they’re lonely in a crowd, times when they wish they could find a spark that would connect them to the rest of humanity. Maybe, just maybe, they’re looking for that Message in a Bottle…

Message in a Bottle

Just a castaway, an island lost at sea, oh
Another lonely day, with no one here but me, oh
More loneliness than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair, oh

I’ll send an S.O.S. to the world
I’ll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle,
Message in a bottle,

A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life but
Love can break your heart
I’ll send an S.O.S. to the world
I’ll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle,
Message in a bottle,
Message in a bottle,
Message in a bottle,

Walked out this morning, don’t believe what I saw
Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore
Seems I’m not alone in being alone
Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home
I’ll send an S.O.S. to the world
I’ll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle,
Message in a bottle,
Message in a bottle,
Message in a bottle,
Sending out at an S.O.S.
Sending out at an S.O.S.
Sending out at an S.O.S.
Sending out at an S.O.S.
Sending out at an S.O.S.
Sending out at an S.O.S…

~ The Police

8 Comments

  • lilalia

    April 9, 2008 at 5:02 am

    Isolation. A good word. I always thought of isolation is a part of being lonely, and solitude being at peace with the present moment. Thank you for the post.

  • Autumn's Mom

    April 9, 2008 at 8:23 am

    I feel honored that I helped inspire this post. After our conversation yesterday I went home and dropped off Autumn at her dads..as I left I started to cry. I felt completely isolated from the ones I loved. Sigh. I think it was just PMS tho.

  • joan

    April 9, 2008 at 8:48 am

    Wow, that song takes me back to an interesting time and place in my life. I was in some kind of funk last week and felt very lonely. I tried to verbalize it to my husband but couldn’t get the words out to describe how I felt.

  • Starshine

    April 9, 2008 at 10:04 am

    Some of the times I have felt the most relieved is when I have made myself really vulnerable with a close friend and shared something personal that I was experiencing in my aloneness. What a relief to hear, “Oh, that happened to me too!” Suddenly, you realize that you are not as alone in your human experience as you thought!

    I also turn to God. This morning I was reading Psalm 139 (my favorite Psalm), in which King David says to God:

    Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
    If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
    If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
    even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.

    I don’t mean to sermonize–only to share how I have found comfort in knowing that God never leaves me alone.

  • Py Korry

    April 9, 2008 at 6:01 pm

    And then there are times when so many things in life are demanding your attention that a little isolation a welcome relief. I guess that would be the “good” isolation. The “bad” isolation is what you write about.

  • Karen MEG

    April 9, 2008 at 6:47 pm

    I think that was one of the first “singles” I ever purchased… now that’s going a lonnnng way back. The words are still very powerful, though. And hopeful.