Alonely
Alonely is a guided reflection and gathering that elevates solitude and connection as dually important experiences.
Even as we eat, sleep, and breathe alone, we can still separate ourselves from loneliness. There is fullness to be found when no one else is around: in the smallness of an olive and the largeness of an asteroid. In this extraordinary gathering, JETco. asks you to come together with other alone people, to meet one new person, and to then embrace that person’s absence. Alonely balances hunger and food, conversation and quiet, representing a safe escape from the claustrophobia of life during a pandemic.
Alonely took place at Greene Garden in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY on Saturday, June 12th at 1:30 PM, 4:00 PM, and 6:30 PM.
Please reach out to us at heyjetco@gmail.com if you’re interested in learning more or if you’d like to bring this gathering to you. You can preview a small excerpt of the Alonely script below:
Take a moment
and listen to the poem we’re writing together.
You.
You, sitting at the edge of this water.
You, sitting just far enough away from all of these people.
What is that person’s name?
You, I’m asking you.
What is that person’s name?
What might it be?
If you and they got married, what would your last name be?
Hold on to all those versions of you and them.
Each of you is a line.
Take a moment
and give a name to the space between you and them.
You
who you usually call “I”
and that someone else
who we’ve been calling “them.”
The space between you might be called “Thomas” or “Paola.”
It might be called “houseplant.”
It might be called “sigh of relief”
or just “sigh.”
Look at that space.
Breathe into it.
That space is a break in the lines.
[…]
Take a moment
and imagine someone who isn’t here.
Imagine a person
who cannot access this place,
this kind of a place.
Imagine them sitting just there.
They would be a line, too,
but they aren’t right now.
Diagrams from ongoing Alonely development.
