--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Only now, as I'm typing this, have I…" description: "\"“Only now, as I'm typing this, have I realized the only thing I wasn't thinking of was how lonely I was. I guess I was my old self for awhile there, my..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/ann-patchett-670_loneliness_only-now-as-i-m-typing-this-have-i-reali_2345848.jpg" --- # Only now, as I'm typing this, have I realized the only… ![“Only now, as I'm typing this, have I realized the only thing I wasn't thinking of was how lonely I was. I guess I was my old self for awhile there, my better self. Lately I've been completely obsessed by my loneliness: it colors (note I didn't say colours) everything I see these past few weeks…” quote by Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/ann-patchett-670_loneliness_only-now-as-i-m-typing-this-have-i-reali_2345848.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/ann-patchett-670_loneliness_only-now-as-i-m-typing-this-have-i-reali_2345848.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/ann-patchett-670_loneliness_only-now-as-i-m-typing-this-have-i-reali_2345848.jpg) > ““Only now, as I'm typing this, have I realized the only thing I wasn't thinking of was how lonely I was. I guess I was my old self for awhile there, my better self. Lately I've been completely obsessed by my loneliness: it colors (note I didn't say colours) everything I see these past few weeks. It's okay to be lonely, I know that, but I don't like the way it's become the thing by which I measure everything else. I can't seem to try to not be lonely: it only seems to happen accidentally”” [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker recognizes loneliness as a pervasive lens that colors perception, acknowledging its validity but warning against letting it dominate self‑assessment. **In simple terms:** Loneliness shapes how we see everything, but we shouldn't let it define us. Key Takeaway Notice when loneliness skews judgment and seek balanced perspectives. Themes loneliness self‑awareness identity emotional health Mood reflective somber Type personal psychological When to use this quote - daily reflection - therapy sessions - creative work - social interactions Key Concepts psychology mindfulness self‑concept Questions to Reflect On - How does loneliness affect your decisions? - What practices can you use to reframe loneliness? A Different Perspective Loneliness may be a symptom of deeper unmet needs, not just a feeling. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Old self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-self/) ## Related quotes > [~hmmmmm... thinking about him and thinking t myself why am I always lonely < 3 ~](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/she-s-gone/hmmmmm-thinking-about-him-and-thinking-t-myself-why-am-i-always/) She's\_gone > [Just like Pagliacci did, I try to keep my surface hid. Smiling in the crowd I try, but in a lonely room I cry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smokey-robinson/just-like-pagliacci-did-i-try-to-keep-my-surface-hid-smiling-in-the/) [Smokey Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/smokey-robinson/) > [Poppy was now almost well. She still slept more than usual, but when she wasn't sleeping she tromped around the doctor's house pulling spoons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-duprau/poppy-was-now-almost-well-she-still-slept-more-than-usual-but-when/) [Jeanne DuPrau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-duprau/) > [Change is when you realize what you must do to get from where you used to be and be better than your old self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bell/change-is-when-you-realize-what-you-must-do-to-get-from-where-you/) Barbara Bell > [Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fash/time-won-t-fly-it-s-like-i-m-paralyzed-by-it-i-d-like-to-be-my-old/) Fash > [“Her definition of a stranger: "The person staring back at me in the mirror”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henna-sohail/her-definition-of-a-stranger-the-person-staring-back-at-me-in-the/) [Henna Sohail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henna-sohail/) > [“Good will never be enough as long as great exist. Don't look to do better than anyone else aim to do better than your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyconis-d-allison-ty/good-will-never-be-enough-as-long-as-great-exist-don-t-look-to-do/) Tyconis D. Allison Ty > [So the secret is just to say 'Yes!' and jump off from here. Then there is no problem. It means to be yourself, always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/so-the-secret-is-just-to-say-yes-and-jump-off-from-here-then-there-is/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [“Because if every moment of a life is present in every other, so is every old self you've ever tried to outrun. And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/because-if-every-moment-of-a-life-is-present-in-every-other-so-is/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too soon needed ten, then thirty, then a full minute—like shadows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sad-truth-is-that-what-i-could-recall-in-five-seconds-all-too-2/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I have moments where I miss my old self. But I think anyone can get caught up in what we used to have. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-gleason/i-have-moments-where-i-miss-my-old-self-but-i-think-anyone-can-get/) [Steve Gleason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-gleason/) > [“Marcus's fear that his wife might succumb to childbed fever receded day by day as Lillian returned to her old self, healthy and slender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/marcus-s-fear-that-his-wife-might-succumb-to-childbed-fever-receded/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [“My Dear Mrs Winter. (I had half a mind when I dipped my pen in the ink, to address you by your old natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/my-dear-mrs-winter-i-had-half-a-mind-when-i-dipped-my-pen-in-the-ink/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Paradoxically, we achieve true wholeness only by embracing our fragility and sometimes, our brokenness. Wholeness is a natural radiance of Love, and Love demands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jalaja-bonheim/paradoxically-we-achieve-true-wholeness-only-by-embracing-our/) [Jalaja Bonheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jalaja-bonheim/) > [Through learning we grow, becoming more than we were before, and in that sense learning is unselfish, because it results in the transformation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/through-learning-we-grow-becoming-more-than-we-were-before-and-in/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) ## More by Ann Patchett > [She sang as if she was saving the life of every person in the room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-sang-as-if-she-was-saving-the-life-of-every-person-in-the-room/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [If I had problems, I kept them to myself. I didn't make a scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-had-problems-i-kept-them-to-myself-i-didn-t-make-a-scene/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [I can't write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-can-t-write-the-book-i-want-to-write-but-i-can-and-will-write-the/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Without worry to protect me, every thought that came into my mind received real attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/without-worry-to-protect-me-every-thought-that-came-into-my-mind/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“I wrote the last sentence of The Patron Saint of Liars in early April and stumbled out of my apartment and into the beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-wrote-the-last-sentence-of-the-patron-saint-of-liars-in-early-april/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“In the future, he will try to say her name enough, but he never can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/in-the-future-he-will-try-to-say-her-name-enough-but-he-never-can/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [My novels are very much the same, as I think many people's novels are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/my-novels-are-very-much-the-same-as-i-think-many-people-s-novels-are/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“He was in love, and never had he felt such kindness towards another person.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/he-was-in-love-and-never-had-he-felt-such-kindness-towards-another/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Gen was sleeping the sleep of the heavily drugged.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/gen-was-sleeping-the-sleep-of-the-heavily-drugged/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [If I was a waitress, I was too tired at the end of the day when I came home to try to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-was-a-waitress-i-was-too-tired-at-the-end-of-the-day-when-i-came/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“She didn't know how to hate her mother yet, but every time she left her father crying in the airport she came that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-didn-t-know-how-to-hate-her-mother-yet-but-every-time-she-left/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“When you think of love you think as an American. You must think like a Russian. It is a more expansive view.' 'Americans havea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/when-you-think-of-love-you-think-as-an-american-you-must-think-like-a/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“...Nebraska was white, a page as still as fallen snow. It was not crosshatched with roads, overrun with the hard lines of interstate systems.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/nebraska-was-white-a-page-as-still-as-fallen-snow-it-was-not/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Clearly he needed a father, but some other father, any other father, would have been preferable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/clearly-he-needed-a-father-but-some-other-father-any-other-father/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“I don't have any talent for vacations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-don-t-have-any-talent-for-vacations/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) [Explore all 413 Ann Patchett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) ## More Loneliness quotes > [“Hell is only loneliness, a place without play for the soul, a place without God. How could there be God in loneliness when God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/hell-is-only-loneliness-a-place-without-play-for-the-soul-a-place/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [Believe to the end, even if all men went astray and you were left the only one faithful; bring your offering even then and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/believe-to-the-end-even-if-all-men-went-astray-and-you-were-left-the/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [I'm not alone, but I am lonely without you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-not-alone-but-i-am-lonely-without-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What is the opposite of two? A lonely me, a lonely you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-the-opposite-of-two-a-lonely-me-a-lonely-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We often refer to loneliness as something negative. And we look at it as a weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-shetty/we-often-refer-to-loneliness-as-something-negative-and-we-look-at-it/) [Jay Shetty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-shetty/) > [I need the pain of loneliness to make my imagination work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/i-need-the-pain-of-loneliness-to-make-my-imagination-work/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [There was only the broad square with the scattered dim moons of the street lamps and with the monumental stone arch which receded into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-maria-remarque/there-was-only-the-broad-square-with-the-scattered-dim-moons-of-the/) [Erich Maria Remarque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-maria-remarque/) > [A man in a bookstore buys a book on loneliness and every woman in the store hits on him. A woman buys a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/a-man-in-a-bookstore-buys-a-book-on-loneliness-and-every-woman-in-the/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [For years mental health professionals taught people that they could be psychologically healthy without social support, that “unless you love yourself, no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-d-perry/for-years-mental-health-professionals-taught-people-that-they-could/) [Bruce D. Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-d-perry/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Don't let 'being single' make you feel like a loner. Its better to be alone. Relationships arent cures for loneliness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-let-being-single-make-you-feel-like-a-loner-its-better-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In the parking lot, she drove and parked in a dark area with no other cars around. She reclined her seat, and listened to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tao-lin/in-the-parking-lot-she-drove-and-parked-in-a-dark-area-with-no-other/) [Tao Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tao-lin/) > [Attempt to be creative for the joy it brings… Select something like music, dance, sculpture, or poetry. Being creative will help you enjoy life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/attempt-to-be-creative-for-the-joy-it-brings-select-something-like/) [Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/) > [Get away from me misery, get away from me loneliness, get away from me fake bitches I can't take the phoniness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/get-away-from-me-misery-get-away-from-me-loneliness-get-away-from-me/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) [Browse all 4,995 Loneliness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Only now, as I'm typing this, have I realized the only thing I wasn't thinking of was how lonely I was. I guess I was my old self for awhile there, my better self. Lately I've been completely obsessed by my loneliness: it colors (note I didn't say colours) everything I see these past few weeks. It's okay to be lonely, I know that, but I don't like the way it's become the thing by which I measure everything else. 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