Do you ever feel alone?

[kevannatter]

Do you ever had days when you just feel really bad about yourself? You see the way everyone else is living and you don't understand why you're so different? I am having one of those days. I see people posting pictures of every little thing they do on Facebook. It really is quite pointless, but at the same time, I often mind myself feeling jealous because I don't have that. It's not that I want a million friends who hardly know me. I would love to have just a couple though, a couple people who know me inside and out. Quantity is not nearly as important as the quality of a friend. I have left many "friends" behind because I was giving so much, but not getting the support and friendship I wanted in return. Now I don't have any friends and it gets very lonely. Part of the problem is that everyone I know doesn't read. Reading is such a big part of my life. I love diving into stories and each page becomes filled with my own memories. I love the smell of books. Do you walk into a Chapters or Indigo and feel as if you have died and gone to heaven? The smell of crisp paper, fresh ink and a touch of coffee floating in the air. It is the best smell in the whole world, but no one else I know understands that. I feel like I enjoy the finer things in life. Good music, good books, good architecture and a good cup of tea. When I travel I take pictures of the beauty around me, not the same person making a stupid face forty million times. I would just like to know if there is anyone else out there like me. I sat here feeling sad, looking at my rows of books and figured there had to be a place where I could find someone like me. So hopefully someone answers. It would be nice to have someone to talk to. We could talk about books, music, life...Doesn't matter to me. If even one person out there understood the delight of cracking open a brand new book and taking a big whiff, my life would be just a little bit brighter.

[Jolijt]

In reaching out for friends... imho it would help to look a bit more on the positive side??

I for one do not (only) take pictures of 'a stupid face forty million times'

'Part of the problem is that everyone I know doesn't read' ...

I met a lot of people that do read online and have met a few of them irl since... so why not start here?? Go to the library, a bookstore... the people in there like books!

Read a book and write about it...

[gali]

Welcome abroad!

You came to the right place in that case. I and many here share your love of reading. Libraries and books stores are good places to find new people who share your love as well.

[Artiste8]

kevannatter, I feel the same way you do about books, bookstores and taking pictures when traveling. One of my favourite things to do is to browse in a bookstore. When travelling I love to visit bookstores. You will have different friends for different reasons. Not all of my friends love reading. Have you thought of joining a book club, not an Online one. Find out if there are any in your area. I joined one and it is really fun. There are other people like me who love reading. Also, it gets me to try different authors.

[GabrielleAlcime]

Yes, books actually really help me uplift my spirits.

[Amsha]

In my opinion, everyone who likes to read are loners. We're not comfortable or at least we feel like we don't belong anywhere, that's why we immersed ourselves with books and characters to feel like where not alone or maybe the scenarios that we read will maybe happen in our own life. We all feel alone sometimes and feel that nobody understands us. But cutting ourselves off or limiting ourselves to people or opportunities that we feel are safe are sometimes the reason why we feel alone. Or sometimes we read to much that we expect the people around us to behave like the characters we read about and if it doesn't happen we are disappointed and we then feel more alone than ever. I guess what I'm trying to say is, reading is enjoyable, it may take us to places we always dream about, it may give us peace but it doesn't take the fact that they're just make believe, or they're the life of people that wished to inspire us by writing their story and we have to take account that books are just there to inspire us, give us a glimpse of a world different to our own, to give us the escape we need if our own life becomes unbearable but they'll never replace our reality.

I hope anyone can understand my banter.

[Caz1+]

We will go through life only ever having one or two true friends those people who we can really let the barriers down with and be ourselves. I am very lucky to be blessed with one of these friends although 2 years ago I emigrated to the other side of the world and have been left feeling pretty lonely. I don't have anyone here I can really talk to especially about books. We have to take all the opportunities life throws at us and sometimes we have to make those opportunities ourselves. I joined this review site as a start and will join the local library tomorrow. Perhaps do the same and know that there is one other person in the world doing the same as you tomorrow. It makes the world seem a smaller place. I suffer from depression and I tell myself every day that I am not the only one out there feeling this way and we make the most of lives by doing the things we enjoy. One of mine is reading

[sophiachic]

Yes, some books i read leave me feeling like this too.

[chelseabee45]

I can so relate to this . I moved from the east coast to the west coast in November. It has been slow going trying to get out and accustomed and make friends. Back wherei grew up , I had the same friends for over ten years. I now see their facebook posts of them at a party or what not and feel a twinge of jealousy. The few sort of friends I have made thus far are co workers and not book people ( like my friends back home) . I always have these moments in books where I want to talk to someone about it and it is difficult some times to talk to my old friends with the time diffrence. I never had nor wanted a billion friends but it was always nice having the one or two that understood.

Also, I have a weird love for the smell of a book and coffee I am glad to know I am not alone that.

[Nithiya_Sabapathy]

Yes I do feel alone most of the time. Sometimes I feel a need or a crave to have human company. I do have friends with similar interests but I still feel lonely. I think everyone kind of goes through loneliness at some point of their lives. No worries you are not alone.

[Going Social]

Sometime I feel lonely. But often I find myself trying to get away from the crowd. Away from the noise and clutter of other people's lives, perspectives and perceptions offline. Instead I emmerse myself online and enjoy the company of solitutude, while immersing myself into the world and lives of others from a quiet place. I love the dark, I love silence and I love my own company. In that way, I can enjoy the intellectual stimulation that sometimes offline interactions do not always generate. And then there are the days when I enjoy the company of a friend or two or more, and thoroughly enjoy that. Still a part of me longs to return to the solitutude of my reading and learning online. Sometime I wish that I could lock myself away in a library and soak in the knowledge, and enjoy the elation of learning.

[yalonde]

I understand you one hundred Percent! I have my children so i can never really be alone, but I'm going through a divorce because he just left. I blamed myself for being so introverted, but books is what made me come out of my depression. Reading was and i is my remedy. I wish i could find my other half and he loves reading as much as me.

[Tayla]

I love reading because it's kind of an escape from the world like music. I have tons of friends but I don't feel like any of them know me.

[Bibliophile97]

The reason that I love reading is because it is an escape from everything. No matter how bad the world and life may be, in the book, things are different, and that's all that matters, that things can be different, at least to me.
So now, hello and welcome to the site kevannatter, I hope you enjoy your stay.