Are You Alone? Then Read This

Posted byFractured Faith BlogPosted inA Fractured FaithTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I joined Twitter a couple of months ago to promote my (currently) non existent writing career. I used to be a bit of a whizz on Twitter back in the day. I held court on it and waxed lyrical to my army of adoring followers. My dry, yet achingly witty and intelligent, tweets won me adoration and acclaim. Usually typed when I was several sheets to the wine courtesy of my old friend, Mr. Budweiser.

But that was then, and this is now. Now I stand awkwardly in the corner of the room with my Diet Coke as all around me fellow authors, who all appear to know one another, tweet nonsense about their current work in progress and whether or not their protagonist should be written in the 1st or 3rd person. It’s a dog eat dog and me, me, me social platform. Heavens above, some of them even post selfies, an unwritten no no on WordPress.

I’ll persevere as that is where all the literary agents and publishing houses hang out. But it’s just somewhere I go to ply my trade, a 9-5 environment I’m obliged to visit on a regular basis. It’s not my home, it’s not the place I retreat to at the end of a long, tiring day. A place where I tear off the mask, slip into something more comfortable and abandon the airs and graces of social etiquette.

For that place is WordPress. It is my home and you are my people. A place where I am accepted for who I am, not who I want to be. Yes, I can be witty and intelligent if the mood takes me but I can also be honest, brutally honest if need be. Where I can bare all, safe in the knowledge I will be supported and valued. WordPress is my safe place, and you are my people. It will always be my online home.

Which brings me to the point of this rambling post. It’s great that people can be themselves on here, but it also means I see a lot of pain. I see desperation, anger, guilt, rejection, hopelessness and sorrow. I see people on the edge, one step away from toppling over the precipice and falling into a chasm of nothingness from which there is no return. But most of all, I see raw, unfiltered loneliness.

Loneliness is a silent killer. You can be in the middle of a crowded room, smiling and nodding in all the right places, but inside there is nothing but a hollow shell. Your phone rarely rings, beeps or vibrates. You have nobody to talk to, to sob and scream at. You are an island of isolation, adrift on a sea of sorrow. So you cling to the only piece of flotsam within sight, you cling to it for your very life depends on it.

You cling to WordPress. For it is the only community where you feel a semblance of self worth and acceptance. My message to you today is that you are not alone, for we are many. We need to reach out, engage and care for each other. Visit other people’s blogs, check up on the quiet ones, read between the lines and scan the skyline for rescue flares and warning beacons. They need us just as we need them.

I post every day on WordPress. I am here. Use me. Talk to me. For I’ve been there. Where you are now, as you read these words. Or talk to someone else if you think I’m the most annoying blogger on the planet. It doesn’t have to be open forum. Send an e-mail. Reach out, for there are strong hands, able and willing to pull you from the pit. Yes, you are lonely. But you need never be alone again.

Are you alone, desperate, frightened? Then reach out?

Or do you want to help others? Then reblog this post or write your own.

Let’s slay those demons.

Published by Fractured Faith Blog

We are Stephen and Fionnuala and this is our story. We live in Northern Ireland, have been married for 17 years and have three kids - Adam, Hannah and Rebecca. We hope that our story will inspire and encourage others. We have walked a rocky road yet here we are today, together and stronger than ever. We are far from perfect and our faith has been battered and bruised. But an untested faith is a pointless faith. Just as a fractured faith is better than none at all. We hope you enjoy the blog.

92 thoughts on “Are You Alone? Then Read This”

  3. WOW! What a powerful post Stephen. A beautiful one too. I so agree with you. This community is a azing. I never knew it was like it is. I simoly created my Blog to put my poems onto. But there are wonderful people in here.

    To answer your questions. Yes, there HAVE been times when I have felt alone. Frightened. Desolate. Even when I have been posting either joyful or strong seeming poems on here. Sometimes I have revealed my real self, others I haven’t. But sometimes people fead between the lines. Other times they read things into things that are not really there. But that is O.K.

    Like you, I would say that I have gone through so much, and would be there for anyone who needed someone. I think there is something to be said for anonimity.

    This is a brilliant post Stephen.

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. “It is my home and you are my people. A place where I am accepted for who I am, not who I want to be. Yes, I can be witty and intelligent if the mood takes me but I can also be honest, brutally honest if need be. Where I can bare all, safe in the knowledge I will be supported and valued. WordPress is my safe place, and you are my people. It will always be my online home.” .. Loved this bit.
    Totally agree with you. Keep writing!

    Liked by 3 people

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  6. I’m a loner and I’m used to relying on myself. I’m always happy to help others though, so long as it’s something I can help with.

    The community of writers on Twitter are very hard to break into. I’m having difficulty with that too. I just retweet art I like and link my WordPress posts there. If I ever bother to tweet, especially about writing I, just usually get stony silence. It’s not conducive to regularly doing that.

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. The WordPress community is a place for support and acceptance. Thank you for making yourself available for people who may need that extra support and ease that alone feeling. I think when we are real and honest in our writing people can feel that and relate to the humanness in us all. I haven’t been on Twitter for the very reasons you talked about.
    Wonderful post!

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. This is a wonderful post. It is so true, I see many people struggling, lonely and afraid in their writings. It is important to reach out to others and allow them the feeling of connectedness. Thank you so much for this post.

    Liked by 3 people

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  9. A number of months ago I made a post with something of quite the same sentiment. I still feel the same way, maybe even more so. No matter how happy, sad, desperate, miserable or alone we feel… WordPress- no let me clarify- the people that contribute to and are the substance of WordPress ARE my safe haven. You probably don’t know this but there are days I can go to your site because I need to smile and laugh at just “the simple everyday stuff” and you always come through for me. Thank you! And
    I here too. Even though I don’t write every day, I do read or reply as often as I can. We are all here, in some way, for each other!

    Liked by 3 people

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  10. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, I love your writing! I enjoy what you write and the way you write it. This post brings brings a few issues up for me. One big thing is, though something is better than nothing, WordPress does not replace true friendship and support…or mental health care. For both good and bad, our world has turned into a place where everyone is at home…so to speak…working on their own endeavors (even if that is just escaping in the world of TV or video games). As a result, we aren’t out there meeting with, and talking with, each other in real, much needed, direct human contact. Fellow bloggers, Facebook “friends”, Twitter followers…none of those are real friends and none of that can replace what so many are lacking. Until we get up off our backsides and get back out there, loneliness is going to continue to be a huge problem. Social media in any form will not fix it because it amounts to a bunch of people all desperately trying to get each others attention, some due to loneliness, some because they are trying to promote themselves so they can make money in some form (writers, musicians, videographers, etc) The problem is, those desperately looking for attention and self promotion cannot give it to others, at least not in the way it is needed or effective. The sick cannot heal the sick.

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    1. One more thing. If a person has a large following on their blog, they may feel they get some needed attention and support and thus, WordPress would be a plus. However, for those with small followings or followers who don’t actually read and interact with the blogs, writing your heart out in a post and getting little to no response would just make the loneliness worse. We need to get back to having real, supportive, unselfish direct human contact.

      Liked by 4 people

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      1. Oh yes, I agree there are genuine people on here. I just don’t believe that chatting on a computer is the same as face to face contact with another human being….someone to check on you and help you when you are sick, someone to give you a hug on a bad day, someone that sends or brings you a real birthday card or Christmas card, someone to give you a ride home from the hospital after surgery, someone to sit and watch a game or a movie with while enjoying a snack, a drink and a laugh, on and on. It just cannot provide many of the things that real friendship gives us. Just my experience and opinion though. =)

        Liked by 6 people

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        1. God’s School of Life, I am so blessed to have that. It’s called a church. 😉
          I write “Seeking Divine Perspective” in hopes that others will know that God is reaching out to them, and that as they begin a relationship with Him, they will gain not only a new life, but also a whole new family of believers in a nearby fellowship.

          Liked by 1 person

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          1. Good for you for having that. However, that culture doesn’t even exist in a lot of churches now days, so I don’t believe going to church is a sure answer for the problem either. In fact, this whole blog post would be unnecessary if churches were providing for people’s needs because there wouldn’t be any lonely people to write to.

            Liked by 2 people

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  14. I love this. I think there are legions of people who are sitting alone pounding out words on their phones, tablets, computers, or whatever. I think many writers are solitary creatures. I know I am, and perhaps I’m wrong. But I do love WordPress and feel the same way. I consider you one of “my people”. I do not possess the same courage to be brutally honest, however. I do try to be as real as I can be, but trust is a big issue for me. And my blog is linked to my Facebook page so many of my friends and relations read it. I would not do anything to hurt them, which, if I were to be truly honest, would perhaps hurt some of them. And I wouldn’t hurt anyone intentionally. I do like helping people and if some of what I write is a comfort, or of help then I am glad. You are right, we are a community and I love being part of it. Thanks for this!!!!

    Liked by 2 people

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  15. Thank-you❤️ I try to find time to read fellow writers on WordPress and when I do I’m very happy I did. Sometimes I feel very alone. Honestly, I’ve begun to chose it because it takes so much of my energy to connect with people who end up being not worth my time. So I’ll save my energy and my time and invest it in my kids because they deserve it.

    Liked by 2 people

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  16. You are my hero at many levels:
    – Amazing family man (most important one)
    – Relentless marathon runner
    – Wonderful writer who is never going to give up until his first book is published
    – Brave and compassionate human who is not afraid to shine his own brightest light to lead lost souls to shore

    Liked by 1 person

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  19. Well written! Those “masks” render us unable to fully connect with others. Sad and so very exhausting. That’s part of my motivation for putting it all out here to let other people know that we all have those feelings. As uniques as we are, we all struggle with those range of emotions and life. Thanks for doing you!

    Liked by 2 people

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  20. Thanks for reaching out to the lonely. We all need each other. Life is hard and we aren’t meant to go through it alone. With lots of followers and lots of likes one can still feel alone. Thanks for your humble example!

    Liked by 3 people

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  23. I’m so touched …but admittedly also a bit stuck on your saying you just strip off and be yourself over here. 😀

    I loves my WP community. I’d love to meet in real life, too. Maybe I can host a Jedi council meeting with holograms.

    Liked by 1 person

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  30. Hi. Thank You.
    For putting into Words those Emotions many of Us so feel.
    As Writers we are all oft alone.
    We KNOW Others are too.
    Being alone can be Self-Healing, cathartic… like Writing…
    However when
    Loneliness pervades, persists… the Self can shatter.

    Whilst lil’ will replace the Human Touch your fostering
    of Community may well be a Key for any such struggles.
    Raising Awareness with open-hearted Concern.

    Thanks so much for caring enough to invite those who
    may have no other outlet. Here’s Hoping such steps
    are taken when it matters to those overwhelmed.

    Nobly done. Honest, Humbling, Heart-Felt.
    Appreciated. Much. Take Care. Till next…

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  36. I really needed this tonight. I feel very much alone in this world. Yes I go to work. I interact with children and families all day long. But they are not my own. I miss my parents even though they brought heartache and pain. Your blog and just you and your family in general are a balm on a very wounded soul. You put into words things I can never quite say but totally feel. Thank you my friend for just being you. ❤

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  42. Thank-you for offering to be there for us! It can be difficult feeling alone and isolated – something I’ve struggled with for a long time. I have friends and family but they all have their close ones and/or are busy working to survive in this crazy world. But I have learned to appreciate my aloneness, and have learned how to take care of myself. Someday hope to have someone to share life’s fun and struggles but until then it’s better to be alone than with the wrong person. Being alone gives me the time to treat myself and do exactly what I want to do, making my life be what I want it to be. Still, very nice to have writing friends in the same boat. 🙂

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