We all belong here.

To me, loneliness can feel vast and endless. It can feel all-encompassing. When I graduated high school, my experience was one not of excitement but of grief and isolation. My loneliness might have been silent, but it was not invisible. It was the school bag that I couldn’t bring myself to move from its usual spot for over a year. It was holding myself together through a university class only to cry the whole drive home. It was being with my friends and holding a smile until I was out of sight.

I chose the girl in this image because loneliness is not just emotional, but also physical pain. It is having to wrap your arms around yourself because there’s no one to do it for you. It is counterintuitively shrinking your world and your connections because to be around people is to be more acutely aware of how alone and separate you feel. I chose to place her in a sky though – not only to symbolise loneliness as pervasive and heavy, but also because looking at the stars has always been an experience of awe for me.

Looking at the stars makes me feel small, in a comforting, grounding way. Seeking out awe and wonder was something that has helped me feel less lonely – to know we are all connected on one planet, and nothing matters as much as we think it does. The stars were here long before I was and will be here long after my lifetime and I find solace in knowing that everyone and everything eventually finds their way, and their place in the family of things.

The night sky is also something that, the longer you look at it, the more stars you are able to see – in my experience, whilst it may seem like no one else around you is feeling the same way, chances are that if you have the courage to start a conversation, you will be met with “me too”. The more we talk about loneliness, the more we realise that sometimes those around us also feel the same – we are not lone stars in the night…there are many of us; separated yes, but also together. The more we talk and share and connect, the brighter the sky.

I am surrounded by you but feel no warmth

I am next to you but still so far

I see your joy and happiness but can't seem to share it

It breaks me, makes me hate me and leads at times to despair

I am lost and lonely nowadays it just feels like me, myself, and I.

The moment you think or wish it, that’s when you feel the loneliest.