How to be lonely

After 2020, our lives underwent profound changes. The world was shaken by an unknown illness of unprecedented scale, followed by a series of political events that reshaped life as we knew it. This period forced each of us to confront solitude in its fullest sense. What does loneliness truly feel like? Finding myself alone, I began to explore this feeling. At first, it consumed me—filling familiar spaces with emptiness, stripping away all sense of direction, and leaving me in a state of panic over lost plans and certainties. When the war between Russia and Ukraine began, followed by the relocation of my loved ones—and later, my own move to another country—this sense of isolation grew overwhelming, as if I would never again experience what felt like a “real” life. Yet, as I gazed deeper into this emptiness, I unexpectedly discovered its beauty. Loneliness no longer frightens me; instead, it grants me the space to look inward—something I had been avoiding all my life. How to Be Lonely — solitude, as described by Odo Marquard, is not a tragic state but rather a conscious choice where an individual can find harmony with themselves. It is not the absence of people, but a space for self-discovery and personal growth. This project explores solitude as a condition where silence does not evoke fear, but instead offers an opportunity for deep reflection and the cultivation of inner peace.

Ongoing 

2024