While The Kettle Boils

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 75, 29 November 1940, Page 49

While The Kettle Boils

Dear Friends, One of the most pathetic of human ills-an affliction of the spirit-is loneliness. There are hundreds of lonely people about us who, though living in a busy, populous world, find themselves alone and forgotten. | Circumstances control many of these lonely folk, but there are as many others who can find remedy for their state if they only have the will to go about it. Recently I was staying in an apartment house, and here I saw some pathetic examples of lonely lives — women, living in one room, shut off from converse, existing in some remote, lonely world of their imaginations. One particular woman used to resort to all sorts of little subterfuges in order to snatch a few moments of friendly conversation. An excuse to borrow some article-or waiting outside her room in the hope that someone would stop on her way past and have a word with her. I learnt she received a small income, just sufficient to support her. One day I said to her, "Why don’t you take a job? You would feel so much happier with something to do." A week later she came, with a beaming face, to tell me she had just taken a position as a daily housekeeper to a widower and two small boys. She returned home every night, quite happy now and contentedand no longer alone. Work is a great solace and an unfailing cure for loneliness. It takes you among your fellow men and gives you that self-respect and reliance that is denied to those who live idly and alone. There are other remedies for loneliness. For young people — there are lonely ones among them, too — a sporting club, tennis, golf, ping-pong, bridge, will open up a new world. They will meet new people-and will find there kindred spirits who are in need of sympathy and friendship just as much as they are. Don’t hide your light under a bushel. If you possess some gift or talent, don’t be afraid to talk about it or display it. Remember, the world accepts you at just the valuation you place on yourself. So don’t be tempted to underestimate your talents. Some women find that their particular expression lies in church groups, hospital work, luncheon clubs, amateur theatricals, and such societies, There is something to be got from each and all of them that will banish effectively the bogy of loneliness. This world of ours is in need of so much help and solace. A hobby is a grand panacea for loneliness. No, one should be without an interest of this kind. But you’ve got to be an enthusiast to obtain the desired effect. If it is gardening, go out after it in a big way. Study floral decoration, enter for horticultural competitions., You may find yourself a hidden artist-and you won’t have time to be lonely.

Tf i€ is stamp collecting, don’t rést till you get the best collection — and then keep on trying. Or what about autograph collecting? Keep an eye on celebrities who arrive, and then go after them with book and pencil. You will find it an engrossing pursuit — and it will bring you in contact with all sorts of interesting people. There are dozens of hobbies and pursuits we can follow

-and no oné should find an excuse for loneliness, Why, right on hand, at this present moment, there is something for everyone, doing war work-and every hand is needed. When it is all over, you will be able to look back with pride and reflect that you have played your part towards the ultimate victory. And to be really needed, as we are now, is a

matter of personal and national pride. There should be no lonely women ig war-time, Yours Cordially,

Cynthia