@marisa This reminds me very strongly of the video footage of the last thylacene; pacing in a cage, unable to hear or smell any of its kind as they'd been wiped out, made extinct. Breaks my heart so bad every time.
Urusula K Le Guin's father was an anthropologist at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1911 he met and sheltered/studied/befriended/worked with the last living member of the Yahi-Yana native people of the area, Ishi.
'Ishi, which means "man" in the Yana language, is an adopted name. The anthropologist Alfred Kroeber gave him this name because in the Yahi culture, tradition demanded that he not speak his own name until formally introduced by another Yahi. When asked his name, he said: "I have none, because there were no people to name me"'
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishi
@peha he was a famous Swiss psychiatrist and did a ton of research and writing on how the mind works.
@peha after some searching for the specific paper/ book that he wrote regarding this quote- I cannot find it.
But now I'm determined to read more of his work! ✨
@marisa
... which means vice versa:
The feeling of connectedness does not come from having people around you, but from their interest in the things that seem important to you.
So, connecting means finding those people, and being one of those people. Both are required for mutual connection.
It seems that staying curious about others should be the starting point. Questions are such wonderful tools to get an impression about somebody's 'thing'. The rest should come by itself.
That resonates SO HARD.
Thank you. I was missing the words to explain why I feel so horribly lonely.
Nobody in RL is interested in what is important to me. And they keep telling me that the online friends who do are not real. (They are. But try explaining that to someone who doesn't live online.)
@Firlefanz I posted this late one night thinking "wow, this really helps to explain how I'm feeling" and woke up the following morning to so many others feeling the same. <3
You're not alone <3.
@marisa I strongly believe that knowing how to speak your truth is only 50% of the work.
The other 50% is finding and maintaining safe enough connections and environments to even be able to speak in the first place without being harmed.
@marisa
alone vs. lonely
One is lonely in spirit, not in area.
@marisa Oh wow. This hit me like a ton of bricks. Thank you.
When I am talking about something important to me, I often am interrupted with "Can we talk about something else?!?"
@kimlockhartga yes(!) this... this....
Or get brushed away... But yes. This so much.
@marisa hug.
(I don't know if you're a hugger in real life but I figured a virtual one is safe.)
Carlos Cámara
Marisa
Tobias 🌒🌕🌘
Péhä
Voline
Thorium
Oblomov
inamruzui
Matthew Conroy
a.k.a. low-profile
Ard The Rich has moved
Miles 
Hannah Steenbock
Chris Malik
SearingTruth
Willow 🏳️⚧️🏴🇵🇸
Hackhörnchen
Samson - tief In Berlin
kirch
Fallback of @schenklklopfer
Kim Possible 
Amoshias
marzuq märzenbecher
ray