Henry David Thoreau said that the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation. Such desperation lives at the shallow end of the pool. Personally, I am heartened to see someone not so desperate to quell the loneliness that they will abandon the deep waters and join the masses. While I'm quoting others, Scott Peck wrote about the road less traveled. It is true that the further along the road less traveled one goes, the less travelers you see.

All people desire intimacy and yet, most people know very little about themselves. They pontificate about how they, "would never..." and self-righteously declare that they, "could never understand..." They have no idea. Most people have not been tested sufficiently to be able to make such claims. If they had, their proclamations would give way to silence. As Lao Tsu found, "He who says does not know; he who knows does not say."

And so, what level of intimacy could I share with such a person? How could they possibly share themselves with me when they don't even know themselves? Better to walk alone in light than with company in the darkness.