On Loneliness, Loss, and Adolescence | by Johnson Hsieh | Medium

For those that don’t know, my partner of 7 years and I separated about a week ago. It’s been an eventful week and a half, it’s been an emotional roller coaster, I’ve done a lot of writing and processing, and overall I’m doing better than expected. Just wanted to share what’s been alive for me. I guess it’s been over a week now. Yesterday and this morning I’ve most strongly felt the desire to reach out to her, and the weight of fundamental aloneness. My yearning to reach out comes from a number of places. I want her to know that I’ve been thinking of her. I want to know how she’s been. On some level, I want to compare. On some level, I want to hear her version of the things that I’ve shared with her, where mine were primarily oriented around gratitude and grief. I want to feel seen in the way that she saw me, to connect with her in the way that we connected. The way in which fundamental loneliness was kept at bay. The myth maintained, the beast kept locked in the dungeon. Because now th

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