Главная страница «Первого сентября»Главная страница журнала «Английский язык»Содержание №19/2008

Loneliness is a fair price to pay for “big city life”

What is real big city life? What advantages and consequences does it have? Why is loneliness a fair price for it? Why should there be a cost to living in a big city? And who is to decide whether this price is fair or not? Let’s try to answer these questions.

What are the thoughts that come to your mind when you hear the phrase “big city life”? As for me, they are cars, clubs, shopping, education, money, crowds, lack of time and so on. These are the things that make our life. So living in a big city sometimes means that you aren’t noticed, you’re forgotten and it all happens because of the fast pace of life, but not because people don’t like you or don’t want to socialize with you. That’s how, I guess, the feeling of loneliness can appear or cross your mind. That’s why, I think, that before giving responses to all the questions I’ve put at the beginning, we should find out what loneliness is.

Sometimes people mix up the two notions of being lonely and being alone. Being alone is not a feeling; it is a state. It means that you are alone at the moment, or everybody turned away from you. But loneliness is a feeling and for me, it is a strange feeling, which usually appears when nobody can socialize with me, because of their business. You can stand on the street for several hours and nobody will pay attention to you. It means that you become invisible to other people. I can’t say exactly what loneliness is, because for every person it is different. For one, person it’s the biggest fear in life, for another it’s just a simple feeling which he pays no attention. But as for me, loneliness is when nobody can help or support you. As I said before, loneliness is a feeling. It can appear in any moment of your life for different reasons.

During our lives, we always set some aims and try to reach them, forgetting all main values. But once we stop and look back we see that there is nothing left. If you live in a big city you have to obey its rules, even if they are cruel. If you want to achieve something in life, you must study and work a lot. And in this period of life, life in a big city absorbs you and you forget about everything else.

But we still haven’t answered the question: if loneliness is a fair price for a big city life. Once it was said – “We must pay for everything”. A big city gives us lots of opportunities and we use them as much as possible, forgetting about everything and becoming lonely, face to face with the city. And why is this price fair?

I pointed out four things for myself, which we pay for. These are life, health, love and loneliness. But if to take least evil of all, I would choose loneliness, because to be lonely is better than to sacrifice your life. That’s why I think loneliness is a fair price to pay. It’s only my opinion, but what choice you make remains a question.

By Ivan Korievkin

Today people from different towns want and try to move to big cities. Why? There are a number of the reasons why people leave small cities. They consider that life in a big city is a life of luxury, with all conveniences, without any problems which they had in their hometown.

Of course, many people dream of having a smart cars, big apartments and other things which are not realistic. But, as a rule, when they come to a megacity they confront new problems which they have never known before. So many can’t endure the pressure and return home.

So what problems do newcomers to big cities have?

One of them is loneliness. All of us need support, love, and understanding of the people around us. People who love us, people without whom we could not live. It is difficult to understand that no one will be with you and help you in some situations. Maybe we all can remember times when we had conflicts with our and close. And we also try not to lose relationships, which we need.

In big cities, people from other towns and countries with free time can feel loneliness and sometimes live a stressful life.

But, how it is possible to feel lonely among so many people? There are a lot of places where we can relax and meet somebody. But, in spite of this, it is very difficult to find the right neighborhood which will be excellent for you, and to stop thinking about people who were with you in your former life. This problem concerns not only visitors, but also people who have lived there from birth.

What is the reason? Nobody can exactly say.

You must be sociable, and have qualities which are loved by people, if you want to have many friends. Unfortunately, we live in a world where most of us do not care about things which do not concern us directly.

Probably, this is even too big a price for a life in the city. Because, I think our families, friends, those close to us – are the base of our life. I believe that, if we could, we would spend all our free time with them.

I think that it is necessary to appreciate everything that we have and not to aspire to something else, that will harm us. Therefore, everyone should make their own choice where he/she wants to live.

By Julia L’vova