Safety Shield.

13.09.2025

Loneliness is often associated with emptiness, a lack of love, or abandonment. And yet, its other face is rarely recognised. It can be a conscious choice, a quiet refuge where no one takes away your right to breathe.

For me, it is a moment of relief from people who do not understand the meaning of enough, with their constant demands and unending desires. From those who lose themselves in selfishness and greed, treating other people’s boundaries as something they feel entitled to shift at will. I would rather sit in an empty space than stay in a connection stripped of respect. Because nothing cuts quite as deeply as the presence of someone who looks at you with indifference, through hollow eyes.

I remember a relationship where I shared walls, but not a life. In a large house, each of us had our own room, our own silence, our own isolation. At night, I would go down to the living room, lie on the sofa and stare at the stars. In those moments, only the sky bore witness to the fact that I still existed. I was so close to another human being, and yet more alone than ever before.

Loneliness is not a punishment. It is a shield. A space where no one crosses your boundaries, no one wounds you with words or silence, no one lies or betrays. It stays with you throughout the day, and at night it rests beside you. It is within loneliness that we discover the peace others are unable to give.

It does not take life away. It teaches you how to save it.