I found reading books I enjoy helps a lot. Ever since I started reading Vladimir Pozner's autobiography - Parting with Illusions - I haven't felt down. I enjoy reading about his life and his deep insight into self and how he felt during particularly difficult or simply different times. This makes me relate to him more than I ever thought I could, given how distant he seems to be on TV. I've got Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Recall on the way, as well, which I anticipate reading with as much passion. I feel like doing meaningful stuff helps, as well. Immersing myself into working on the stories I envision and the worlds surrounding them makes my time worthwhile, and I enjoy the process. Some part of me not giving in to loneliness - "fighting" it is like fighting air - has to do with the fact that I recognize how different from everybody around me I am and accepting it. Throughout my life I've been seeking company of people I didn't have good time with, just to spend some time with somebody. I recognize that this is not what I want to give my time to, and instead, I'd rather focus on two parts of my life I can actually use a difference in - studying and writing. I'm already screwed out of good social skills, so they won't be damaged much. I don't intend to be an outcast of any sort, but hey, I don't have any friends anyway, so fuck it - might as well do something good. Time will tell if I'm right in my assumptions.
This is why I love hubski. I have very strongly disagreed with you in the past, to the point of emotional over-reaction but this thread shows me how we're probably more similar than we are different. Books are a fantastic response to loneliness. I have always felt a peace in reading a physical, turn the pages book that is almost impossible to replicate.
You could probably relate to any one Hubski user, given enough time. We are all here through a number of traits; those who don't possess such traits don't seem to stay here for long. I imagine that it's through those traits that we might find a finer common ground than through our differences a bigger chasm - likely those traits are deeper than our disagreements. On that note, when I received that reply in my hubskiwheel responses page, I couldn't reply back because I was "muted", which, clearly, isn't the case - nor has it been the last few times (some of which I've dismissed as true without checking). mk, is that a bug?