Thoughts on Loneliness
Why writers need never be lonely.
I recently spent two weeks working with Ages and
Stages, a theatre company for older people, based at the New Vic Theatre in
Stoke-on-Trent. We were exploring the themes of Isolation and Connection and in
the process of devising our piece there was much discussion about loneliness.
Inevitably we talked about loneliness in older age. As
people grow older they lose partners, become more isolated because of growing
physical infirmity and the difficulties of going out and making contact with
others. We also shared personal experiences of feeling lonely.
All of which might sound pretty downbeat, but then we
explored ways of combatting feeling alone and our piece ended on a very
positive note.
Walking home from rehearsals each day I inevitably
would muse on what had been shared and discussed and I wondered if things might
be somewhat different for writers.
None of us, of course, can avoid the great sorrows of
life, such as losing a long term partner, a beloved child or a close friend.
However, in some respects a writer is never truly alone, because for us there
is another world into which we can escape. A world filled with characters we
know, whose lives we can shape and who keep us company.
At least this is my experience and I find that once I
am in that world, I can be so totally absorbed that the whole of a day can pass
with only a few words shared with the other adult in the house.
Currently my mind is divided between the mundane
matters of 21st Century England, and the less mundane too I hasten
to add and the 19th Century of Letty Parker. Letty lives in an
alternative world. Her Bristol is one where gargoyles and dragons gossip on the
roofs at nightfall, the Dark Ones are to be feared and a twelve year old girl
can make a living by setting up her own detective agency. Currently Letty is
facing a number of perils on an enforced journey to the Caribbean and if I need
a break from the greyness of a British October I can join her in the warmth and
sunshine of Jamaica, though I’m not sure if I want to face the evil that lurks
in the forests and in the plantation great house.
That book will be finished soon but unwilling to leave
her world I am already drafting the next adventure.
Comments
Your theatre group for the elderly sounds wonderful. Loneliness is a huge issue as we get older and lose people we love, and increasing mobility problems makes it hard to get out and do things - like take part in a drama group! But at least if you've managed to do that for a bit you make friends you can keep up with even if you can't do the acting anymore. I think we need Ages and Stages everywhere.
On the other hand, as you say, being alone is great for writers. Being able to enter your world and stay there at length without having to emerge every half hour to answer the telephone, arrange parcel deliveries, take people to doctor's appointments etc is far more likely to lead to a productive use of writing hours.