How to enjoy loneliness?

Loneliness is a beautiful thing.

The film Amelie directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet tells a story about a girl named Amelie, who was misdiagnosed with heart disease in childhood and was raised alone by her parents. This experience resulted in Amelie having little interaction with people in real life yet developing a rich and romantic spiritual world. After growing up she moved to central Paris and work as a waitress in a café.

One day she accidentally finds the lost treasure of the former occupant of her apartment, and she decides to return it. This act opened up a whole new perspective for her. She finds it interesting to be involved in other people's lives (even though they don't know she exists) and she then decided to devote herself to helping others: a woman who lost her lover, a "ghost," a man whose bones are brittle as glass. In the end, after a series of misunderstandings and coincidences, she has found another lonely soul who is spiritually compatible with her.

Loneliness is a starting point of life.

I once had a conversation with my classmate Y about the topic of loneliness. And she told me, "You know, there are times, especially since this year, when I feel a little lonely, and although I have friends and people to talk to, there are still times no matter if I'm alone or if I'm with other people, that I just feel like I'm separate from other people. It's like me and others are in two different worlds, the others have nothing to do with me and I also don't care what's going on in the world." Y also asked a question that left me a deep impression, she said, “Sometimes there just this question suddenly pops into my head, why am I here? Why in this place? Doing what I’m doing right now?” I deeply emphasize with her words. I can't explain this question but starting from this question is the starting point for us to discover the self. Existentialism states that from this act we begin to find our own unique place in the world and begin to realize that we are separate from others and things. If to be awareness of the self is the starting point for embracing loneliness, then what's the next step?

The secret of Crème brûlée.

In the film, Amelie says she loves the moment when she cracks open the crunchy skin of the crème brûlée with a spoon.

Crème brûlée is like the embodiment of Amelie, her heart is kind and delicate as she has never truly stepped into the world she lives, but the soft core of the crème brûlée is separated from the outside world by a hard layer of creme caramel. Amelie is closed in her own fantasy world; she exists in this world yet is an outsider, just like the glass man said to her "After all these years, the only person I still can't capture is the girl with the glass of water. She is in the middle, yet she is outside.” As Amelie silently helped people around her, the facial features of the girl in the glass man's painting gradually became clearer. People who lived in this world are supposed to be connected, but the most important thing in this connection is to have a clear understanding of the self. Although Amelie helped a lot of people, actually no one knew she existed. And at the end when she finally decides not to use riddles but chose to stand in front of the guy she likes, this choice of hers makes the girl in the painting vivid.

Amelie finds the love of her life, she was still lonely, but she found herself in the world, and most importantly she knows how to enjoy loneliness. That is to find the subtle balance brought by the moment of cracking the top of Crème brûlée and thus to touch the essence of life. The secret of loneliness lies in the moment when "Crème brûlée" is cracked, lies in the wonderful sound and balanced taste experience that moment brings.

To find out about the expressive activity of this session, click the link below:

"Expressive activity- make crème brûlée~"