The Island in All of Us

EDITORIAL | ISSUE TEN | ISOLATION

Written by Tashi Donnelly (she/her) | @tashi_rd | Editor

When I chose this issue’s theme, I knew it would be popular. With Covid-19 lockdowns only five short years behind us and the now decades-long hand-wringing over social media addiction, I knew that the university students of today would have a lot to say about isolation. However, this theme has proven to be so popular that, in a frenzy of excitement, I accepted more articles than I should have and went way over budget. If I lose my job due to reckless spending, at least I’ll die on a hill of beautifully written and thoughtful articles. 

When I read အိမ်တွင်းပုန်း (eain twin pone) by Mona Aung, my eyes teared up a little. Her work captures those very universal feelings of introversion and loneliness, but in a way that feels deeply personal to Mona’s experience. Similarly, Priscilla Zhang, in her column One Moon, reflects on isolation as an international student. Her article reminds us that loneliness isn’t always about the number of people around you. In both of their works, I found myself using an important muscle: sympathy. 

I can’t relate to the experience of being an international student, nor of being born intersex. So when I read Intersex Loneliness, I stretched my sympathy muscles further. Mathilde Redamare’s experience is uniquely ordinary for people who fall under the intersex umbrella. Isolated not by physical distance, but by the absence of language, information, and recognition. Their loneliness speaks to the ways isolation can be created not by difference itself, but by being denied the language, information, and community that would allow you to understand that difference.

In Adam McGarvey’s short story Death, we’re confronted by the grim realities of work as a paramedic and asked to contemplate the ultimate, final isolation. Luke Fisher’s article, Dread and Circuses: Uni’s over, what now?, made me laugh, as his articles always do. It warmed my heart to read his romantic fantasies, something I crave to see more of from the Straight White Male Community. Romance ain’t just for girls, fellas! Just don’t make it weird.

Ivy Lyden-Hancy’s piece Fuck I love isolation offers a healthy depiction of isolation, one that’s full rather than empty; a place for music, nature, gaming, whakapapa, memory, and community. It made me think about the word’s etymology, from the Italian isolato, meaning “made into an island”.

Isolation: A Bubble of My Own Making explores a different kind of separation. Between law school, friendships, and the tension of moving between te ao Māori and a Pākehā-shaped academic world, Taigaga Rerecich describes the strange experience of being surrounded by people while still feeling like you are speaking a language nobody else quite understands. It is a reminder that isolation can be measured by the distance between experiences. And, beautifully, the piece finds its antidote not in abandoning one world for another, but in finding people who can move between them with you.

The more pieces I read, the more I was struck by a strange kind of paradox: that a feeling defined by disconnection can, in itself, become something that connects us. Isolation is a theme I’ve explored extensively in my own work, and at times I’ve worried my art is too self-centered because of it. But for those who can relate to my experience, my art is a comfort, and for those who can’t, it’s a lesson. That’s what I love about stories; they make us use that sympathy muscle I mentioned earlier. Each contributor approaches isolation differently, yet together, their work invites us to connect more deeply with one another. 

I’ve always thought the beauty of the human experience is how uniquely the same we all are, and here in these pages, I’ve found that to be true.