Bottleneck

Alone is not loneliness?

I spent a large part of last night and today wondering what it really means to be alone. After all, a solitary flower has its own beauty, just like in Chez Mondrian. Coincidentally, I chanced upon a passage which just about summed up my conclusion "Because as much as we want to share our deepest secret we also want to keep them hidden, as much as we want constant companionship we also want privacy, as much as we want to be vulnerable we also want to protect ourselves, as much as we want to share our lives we also want our freedom, as much as we want to give ourselves away in selflessness we also want to keep our lives and our possessions for ourselves, and as much as we want the stability of deep commitment we also want the freedom of opportunity." If life really is no more than a series of ironies, where does one strike the balance necessary for the sake of having a fruitful existence? A yearning for company makes me human but the longing to be alone makes me who I am.