Can you describe a situation in which you felt very alone? It might be negative or it might not...

I recently got my instrument rating as a pilot, which allows me to fly in conditions where I can't see outside the airplane, flying with reference to the instruments inside the airplane (in conjunction with air traffic control) to ensure safety. Recently I had a night flight in actual instrument conditions, one of my first such real flights.

Once I landed, it was a rewarding experience, knowing I was capable of doing it. But while flying along in the dark, unable to see outside the dimly-lit cockpit, unable to see the ground, or any lights, or stars, just focusing on the instruments... I felt extremely alone. Not necessarily in a bad way, but the feeling was rather intense. I knew there were people a mile below me in their houses, but I couldn't see a thing. Just darkness.

Of course one can feel alone even when surrounded by people. "Alone in a crowd." A somewhat different phenomenon... But to me this highlights the obvious fact that although we're all part of humanity, there isn't a "force" (to borrow from Star Wars) that connects us and binds us. We all live inside our own minds and can so easily become isolated from one another.

If we can be that isolated from people within physical reach, how much more isolated we are from the rest of the universe and the other life that is probably out there somewhere...

This is no revelation. Just some thoughts that occur.