We all belong here.

My perception of my life over these past few years, discussing topics such as loneliness and craving/searching for a sense of belonging Fading Echoes of Belonging
I move through crowds but go unseen,
A shadow lost in the light between
The echoing laughter is warm and bright,
Yet leaves me colder every night.
I trace my name in fogged-up glass.
A concise mark— that never lasts
I seek belonging that is washed away,
Like waves that reach but never stay.
They use tongues that I am unable to learn.
A life undeserved, a silent ghost deterred
With an unrelenting tide, the world continues to spin.
But here I am, imprisoned within.
If I could carve a space, a house,
A voice that swells, a seed thats sown,
Would I be noticed? Call me close?
Or would my name simply repose?

This poem was written when I started university - I was trying to make new friends and became stuck in a cycle of becoming an onlooker to established connections. The third. It made me feel like I was broken, and reflect on the people who used to be around me who weren't my friends but they were familiar. It made me think that loneliness can become so much stronger when you feel it around other people.

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Do you ever see a bond that two other people have,
And start to really miss the friends that you never really had,
Before your voice, oh so quietly, faded behind the rain,
While you watch your happiness drip, dripping down the drain.

Behind my work, there’s no glory,
Just a girl with tired eyes,
I want to tell you the full story,
Sick of all the made-up lies,

But I can’t tell you the truth,
No, I have to improvise,
‘cause then you’ll see the mess who wants to be up in the sky,

And you’ll just let me go,
You all left me alone,
Can’t you see I wasn’t built to be loved?

I was built on my own.

I can’t have a connection,
My emotions skin and bone,
I am burnt and raw and ugly,
Chiselled out of broken stone,

You can’t put me back together,
But don’t just leave me alone.

Please don’t let me go.

There is a monster inside
And it likes to hide
But when it rears its ugly head
I feel dead. In crowds of people
And all alone
Like I don’t belong
It tells me that I will always be alone
That no one understands
And when I don’t want more
I try to shut the door
But the monster never truly leaves me
Because I am lonely.

The clear bubble in the bottom left represents an individual going through a journey. The start of the journey is more lonely represented by the jagged cool line, and it gets more smooth and warm as time goes on, and you become more integrated to your new environment.

Loneliness is the absence of someone that you can trust and rely on during your worst and best times, someone who can resonate with your experiences. When you are alone you can only persevere so much before you need someone else to help you bear your burden. Once you find this person, you both become an unbeatable force taking on the world and everything it has to throw at you.