When loneliness is a constant state of being, it harkens back to a childhood wherein neglect and abandonment were the landscape of life.

All infants and children require and deserve comfort in order to develop properly. Soft cooing voices, gentle touch, smiles, cleanliness, and wholesome food all contribute to the growing body/mind. And when these basic conditions are absent in childhood, our need for comfort in adulthood can be so profound that it becomes pathological, driving us to seek mothering from anyone who will have us, to use others to fill our emptiness with sex or love, and to risk becoming addicted to a perceived source of comfort.

Not belonging is a terrible feeling. It feels awkward and it hurts, as if you were wearing someone else's shoes.

I've overcome neglect and deprivation, abandonment and abuse.

Go oft to the house of thy friend, for weeds choke the unused path.

Summoning gratitude is a sure way to get our life back on track. Opening our eyes to affirm gratitude grows the garden of our inner abundance, just as standing close to a fire eventually warms our heart.