Meditation One and a Half: Are you really alone?

I was inspired to write this blog, because of the idea of the soul. As a personal opinion, I think that the soul is unique in that it is one with the body. Others view it as two separate entities.

The thing is, this special thing in you is a gift of divine proportions. It feeds your mind, fills your imagination and makes you who you are. In a world where you can feel left out, because of this being, you really aren't alone.

The question is, though, what is a soul? How can anyone be certain of what it is? Epistemically, you can't be sure. But the thing is, it depends on what you refer to as the soul. For me, it's the functioning substance of the self, that allows you to think, to inquire, and to investigate using the body. Part of it is the assumption of thought. It's a philosophical inquiry that dates back to Descartes, perhaps even earlier. I guess we can't be sure, if the mind is an unextended, interweaved part of who we are.

But then again, what makes us us? What gives me the right to say that I'm me and not you? Part of it, if anything, is just the prerogative to be what we want to, follow the dreams we have, and life the way we feel is best for us. As a meditation on what the self is, it's necessary to ask about this.

It seems as though this body we live in, is just one. But if we have a soul, where does it fit in? Even to this day, it puzzles me, because of the various opinions on the matter that I've heard.

Philosophically, one can produce an argument for the soul, admittedly, quite stunt-ishly. If we use the model of an extended modus ponens, we can find this argument accessible: (1) If we are able to think in a way that seems impossible for our physical bodies to comprehend, then there must be some part of us that has comprehended what our bodies could not. (2) If part of us can comprehend something our bodies could not, then that part of us must be eternal. (3) The only conceivable eternal part of the self is the soul (or mind). (4) We have been able to think in a way that seems impossible for our physical bodies to comprehend (due to lack of experience). (C) There exists within us, a part of the self which is an eternal soul or mind.

I find though, that while this is a prematurely conceived argument, majority of it is conditionals. Granting the conditionals true, it seems that the only way to punch a hole in the validity is through premise (4). I give you the example of thinking metaphysically, or even daydreaming. Daydreaming seems to be easier to use, so let's follow it as an example. When one daydreams, one seems to think, subconsciously, about something, a surreal experience. We find in this daydream, flying unicorns, and magic, and a land of elves and leprechauns. Now the point is this: while we have never experienced, or had a sensory interaction with unicorns, and magic, or elves and leprechauns, we still somehow conceive of these things as we daydream.

Aside from the philosophical aspect of it, is the theology. As a Catholic, I consider humankind to be filled with the Holy Spirit, that's just part of my faith system. Anyways, one thing that makes humans what we are, is the way we can interact with ourselves among all things. To be able to do this, to think, talk, communicate with ourselves. It makes you wonder, even in a room alone, are we really alone, or do we have ourselves to interact with?

Meditation One: Loneliness

Family is a gift of loving people; to be without them is to truly be alone.

But what is loneliness?

Sometimes, I wonder if such a thing exists at all. Other times, I realize that that's all there is. Loneliness, is a psychological state of being, where, regardless of the world surrounding you, you can never be content with what you have - because it feels like nothing.

Loneliness is like the number one. It's kind of the feeling you get when you take one thing, and pick it out because of what it is that makes it the one of its kind.

People in the rare objects fields will have used, several times, the phrase "it's one of a kind." Well what about people?

I think that to make a person "one of a kind" is to make that person a lonely person.

Being alone has been depicted in so many works, that it seems almost taken for granted that loneliness is a disease which no one wants to catch.

Loneliness is often shown as a way for someone of hiding something. Maybe it's what they have the potential to be, that makes them freaks, and which ostracizes them from society. Maybe it's what makes them weak which makes people laugh and talk. Or maybe it's just because they don't know what it's like to be with anyone.

Actually, I've been thinking myself about what it feels like for me to be alone, and I guess it helps me get some thoughts in my head processed. But then again, for me, it isn't an in-born psychological state of being.

With a lot of my friends, I know that at one point, they've been lonely. At one point, everyone must be alone. Understanding that is part of learning.

Because of loneliness, we can learn what it means to have other people, what it means to love, what it means to be willing to give.

Some of the most serious cases of loneliness are the ones who grew up as orphans. I remember the story of young Albertine in Rwanda. As a girl caught in the midst of a civil war, she had no where to go, and found refuge in a strange man from a different society, and spoke a different tongue. During the fighting, her family and the region in which they had lived had been caught in the crossfire. She was left to fend for herself, as her mother was killed, father not even known about.

Loneliness, though, does bring out the best in people. It did in Albertine's case. Everyone she met was inspired by her story, like Brooke Fraser, whose 2006 album release was dedicated to Albertine and her story.

In some ways, living a life of loneliness is bad, but it's also enriching, if you take it moderately. Loneliness teaches us about the importance of having other people around, about the importance of hope, and the importance of love above all. Without it, we would always be lonely.