So what have I been doing?

Strange how returning and writing this blog is much like seeing an old friend after a protracted absence.  At some point, one turns and says, 'so what exactly have you been up to all this time?' Of course, although these are the words that come out of your mouth, they are not exactly what you mean..
On the contrary, what you mean to say, would like to say is 'what on earth have you been doing which means that you haven't called me?'
As a recluse, and believe me, I am one, I am always at a loss at this point, because the fact is, I haven't called you, but it hasn't been because of a concrete reason.  I can lie and say that I was rebuilding an extension in the back yard, discovering how to build a synthetic genome, or even writing the Coalition manifesto but only because the reality is so mundane, and so socially unacceptable.
I am very happy with my own company; I don't enjoy socialising particularly.
Indeed, I am always the person who shudders before any kind of social engagement.  Strange really because I love it once I am out doing it.

And this coincides with a recent report by the BBC saying that we are all so much more lonely than our parents' generation, that the world of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media mean that we do less of what really matters to us, the act of meeting face to face, of breaking bread with one another, and sharing our lives.

I will never forget the wise friend who said that it was lonelier to be a in a loveless marriage, than it was to be alone.  Maybe that is just as true of the wired in.

Minerva