Where Has Everyone Gone?

One of my favorite movies at the moment is called "Lars and the Real Girl". No, it's not because Ryan Gosling stars in it (okay, maybe a little), but the simple, sad and all too true premise of it. He's a lonely man that buys a companion doll (yes, that kind of doll), and in the midst of his brief madness pretending the doll is his real life girlfriend, all the members of his little town play along. Because they love him, they accept his temporary lunacy and welcome the plastic anomaly as they would a real girl. Yes, it's sad that a person may be so lonely that they create a figment to talk to, to love, to rely on.

While watching this film, and considering my past few months on OKCupid, I've asked myself how, in this world of so many people, are so many lonely? I watch the masses on OKCupid, looking at their profiles, and they all carry a common theme - every person mentions they are looking for someone to spend time with, to do things with; someone to enjoy life. Each person is grasping out through a deep hole of loneliness. They want a friend. They want a companion.

So at what point did we all lose each other? Did we forget how important human interaction really is? We are so focused on our own personal agendas that we forget about everyone else in the process. I spend my day at work, then come home to spend time with my dog, and myself. No one calls, no one texts. I'm simply alone. And I like it that way. I love my little cozy life, but I do admit to getting lonely. I think it's only natural. And apparently I'm not the only one.

This world has become a playground for the sad and detached. Social networking allows us to interact with other people without leaving our couch or the sanctity of our home. Smartphones allow us to send a text - a string of words and letters that have no emotion, not personal affect. Ultimately we never really have to leave our home or speak to another human being face to face. But that's our problem. We're not personal anymore. We don't have to interact. And bazinga, welcome to a world of lonely people.

I wish I could fix this. I wish I could make the world a place where no one cries by themselves at night; where no one feels like the only person on earth; where no one has to create a friend out of a doll or their imaginations. But I'm only one person. One lonely person.