The Loneliness Myth

My New York magazine arrived today. The lead story, "The Loneliness Myth." Apparently, more people live alone in NYC than anywhere else in the world, but research shows that New York is one of the least-loneliest places on Earth. Still I have to wonder...

Is living alone so taboo that it warrants research and studies about human behavior? Is it a disease that can be cured with magical matchmakers or Dr. Phil philosophy? And why do people assume that by living alone, you must be lonely?

I've lived alone in the city since 1998. There are undoubtedly times that I wake up wishing 'he' was here to make me coffee or share the newspaper with. Still, even the mornings that I wake up with 'him' here, it's not soon enough before the place becomes my own again. And while there are certainly no commitments in the near future, does that make me lonely?

I find comfort in things my way. I wish for the same things that other people have, but there is a safe place in my home that only I know. Is it fair to label a city with more than 1 million single people 'lonely', or is that city on the verge of a major psychological break-through: the power of one.