If you think being all alone is the most daunting form of loneliness, think again. A person who thinks endlessly may be a loner. A person who lives perpetually online may be a loner. But the most unsettling isolation belongs to someone who feels disconnected even in the presence of others.
To date, I have never experienced homesickness of any kind. It’s not that I’ve never lived outside my town, but I have never felt what one would call a genuine isolation from home. Homesickness is an amalgam of various reasons, starting from the simple fact of being away from home. It could be missing your favourite snack from your house or quiet longing for one’s mum, who’s gone to her mother’s place.
It may look like anything from far away, but despair and misery—it brings them upon someone who trudges that path. Not everyone is the same—this may sound like a cliché, but here it truly makes a difference. The emotions evoked in the mind of an emotionally receptive person may cause them to lose control: control over their mental state and the ability to be truly present in the moment is renounced.
There is an unforgiving silence in Heimweh, a quiet that slips past those beside you and remains unreachable to those who call you their own. But what is life without sadness—just days stacked together? The world needs more melancholy than it currently possesses to become a better place,as it fosters empathy and resilience.
I have been in a new place for over a month now-alone or maybe with friends, if that’s what you call it. Being far from home stagnates the emotions and negatively affects one’s health. Without mindfulness of these changes, one may be overwhelmed by intrusive thoughts and carry a lingering sadness. Change is the only constant in life, and sooner or later, everyone lives away from the comfort of their own bed.
Human spirit is only emboldened by challenges, no matter the magnitude. So, isolation from home only adds new dimensions to one’s persona. Every time you bid a goodbye to home, you only gain new traits, deeper qualities and a stronger sense of self. A new person who not only is no longer homesick but ingrained with a personality— though not unscarred—that is ready for the next big thing.
Saliq Majeed, an NIT student was a participant of inaugural batch of GKSC
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