Constant, meaningless distracting activity. This can range in levels of engagement and interactivity from masturbation to watching television to cultivating an MP3 collection to writing bad poetry to redecorating your apartment to doing push ups to adding to Everything at 2:35 am to engaging in conspicuous consumption and the work needed to support it.

The effects of any one of the above can generally be compounded after sufficient imbibance of marijuana or alcohol (which may well replace the loneliness with sedation or belligerence, respectively) but many of us raised as part of the MTV Generation will find that any one of the activities is no longer sufficient to engage our ADD music video attention span and that to properly beat solitude into hiding in the corner, two or more of the activities must be combined to completely remove one from reality and the grim social situation one lives in.

I found the best way to fight loneliness is to confront it. If you feel lonely do more things on your own. Do not count on anybody to validate you or entertain you. You are all you have. Loneliness is the bumpy period before you realize this. Healthy relationships, be it a partner or a friend, require independence.

Walk.

Walk as far as you can.

Walk until it hurts.

Walk until it you can't feel the pain.

Walk until you can't feel anything at all.

Then go back.

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