From Loneliness to Solitude

As the theologian Paul Tillich said, "Our language has widely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word 'loneliness' to express the pain of being alone, and it has created the word 'solitude' to express the glory of being alone."

(quoted from Jenny Schroedel in http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001611.cfm)

My training from loneliness to solitude had perhaps begun in Dunedin, even before I was aware of it. In the process, I've learnt that, the answer to one's loneliness is often not the company of another. In fact, I don't think even when there are two lonely people existing in the same place, at the same time, that their answer to their loneliness is each other.