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Is loneliness a foreshadowing of death? Do we fear loneliness because of its intimations of death?

Throughout history, writers, poets and philosophers have maintained that we come into the world alone and depart alone. But, is this true, in fact? We don't come into the world alone: Your mother would vociferously object to that contention! Labor pains alone would refute the idea that we come into the world alone. And, the midwife or doctor who held our tiny, wet bodies would argue, no doubt, that they were present and accounted for at the moment of birth.

Unless we die in our sleep, we most likely will not die alone. And, even in such a case, there are dream figures who may accompany each of us during those last, unconscious moments. I will remain silent as to the question of God's or a Higher Power's presence as we take our last breaths.

Loneliness has to do with one's ego, the small self; it fears being abandoned on an uninhabited island. But, there is no such island. Only if we discount the animal, insect, and plant life can one say that an island is uninhabited. That reflects are estrangement from Nature, nothing more. In truth, we are never alone; there is no basis for loneliness. Loneliness is Nature's way of calling us back home.

a lone gnarled oak
beckoning crows
and me