Loneliness is the new evil of the century, the fault of lifestyles which tend to isolate individuals in their own bubble. We no longer speak to each other, we communicate via instant messaging. Instead of going out with friends, we prefer the company of a series broadcast on a streaming site. And this great withdrawal into oneself, this tiny life fought between the four walls of one’s living room generates endemic loneliness, a generalized malaise.
Loneliness has even become a public health issue. Monday May 11, Marine Tondelier presented measures to fight against this scourge in view of the next presidential election. Loneliness is everywhere. In the countryside as in our big cities. Bistros have been replaced by cell phones and their endless possibilities. Everyone lives in a cocoon made of conversations with their chatbot or with vague friends met on the internet.
The world is losing its depth in favor of a universe dominated by an entirely virtual reality. The mind, constantly solicited by a thousand stupidities, no longer even has the necessary drive to reach out to others, it tends to be sufficient for itself, and in this consecration of the self declined in all sauces, in the midst of the confiscation of social life, the individual feels more and more alone, dispossessed of the taste for living.
This is even more true among young people, where lives are made and unmade to the rhythm of their digital identities. Social networks have become courts where, all day long, they find themselves judged, mocked, harassed, mishandled in their existential singularity. Faced with this surge of hatred of all kinds, their lives wither away, they unravel into solitudes which imprison them in a closed world, closed in on itself, without external intervention.
If solitude is necessary for me to face the harshness of the world, if I happen to appreciate it and even practice it in high doses, for the majority of people, it appears like a formidable enemy. They fear it and fear it, try to escape it by all possible means and when, despite all their efforts, it ends up triumphing, bitterness appears and, with it, its share of resentments, negative affects, accompanied by an infinite feeling of failure and powerlessness.
However, and I say this with all possible humility and foresight, there is a remedy that erases all loneliness and makes life infinitely more exciting to live, and that is reading. You are never alone when you read. A book will never let you down, better, it will accept you as you are without judging or criticizing you. It will be your most faithful ally, a beacon in the gloom of your existence, a mood enhancer, a tireless provider of ideas, of emotions, of a communion which has the characteristics of a fabulous moment of sharing.
Open a book, any book, it will make you a better person. It will teach you patience and compassion without which no life is possible.
The treasures of universal literature are there, within reach. They are waiting for you. They hope for you. They want you. They have treated so many illnesses, softened so many despairs, comforted so many sorrows that yours does not frighten them, they will know how to soothe them with delicacy and sensitivity. A book, and you forget the horrors of everyday life, you go on a journey that costs you nothing except a minimum of attention.
A book can disappoint you but it will never betray you. He will stand by your side in all circumstances. It will open the doors to wonderful worlds where you will go from discovery to discovery, from ecstasy to ecstasy, from surprise to surprise. For an avid reader, solitude cannot exist; it is undermined by books which are so many windows opening onto unknown universes. One book, and you’re somewhere else.
Forget social networks, forget instant messaging, forget chatbots, forget this false modernity which dehumanizes you and makes you full of stupidity. Close your computers, turn off your cell phones, open a book, any book, it will make you a better being. It will teach you patience and compassion without which no life is possible. It will populate your silences, nourish your reflections, deepen your knowledge.
A book is worth a thousand lives. To those who feel alone, I would only say one thing: read, read everything and anything, read in your bed or sitting on your sofa, read in the evening or early in the morning, read without counting, read to exist, read as you breathe, read on vacation, read a page a day, read until you lose your mind, read like a man possessed, read sparingly, read to entertain yourself, read to dream a little, read to learn what women and men are made of, read to avoid not die, read, read, read, and you will see, in no time, your solitude will become so precious to you that you will end up cherishing it.
A reader is a loner who never feels alone.
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