I come home from work. I pour myself a beer. I sit on my sofa. All around me is silence. But, everyone gets to determine for themselves if that's loneliness or freedom.
It would depend on the day. I live alone and I like it that way, but if I am alone for long periods I can begin to feel isolated and lonely.
My aim is for balance.
When I was working, my jobs were quite public, and my house was my sanctuary and haven. it still is, but now if I don't interact with people after a while, I crave interaction as much as I once craved sanctuary.
I have two boys; 6 & 7...silence is trouble. LOL. But when they are with their dad, silence is music to my ears
I see freedom as the ability to choose. If I choose to sit alone in silence, that is indeed freedom. When the loneliness overwhelms ones desire to sit alone in silence, it doesn't cease to be freedom, because it's your mind's choice to enact it's desire.