WALDEINSAMKEIT

The German word waldeinsamkeit means, roughly, the loneliness of the forest.  It is so specific that it is difficult to find a single-word equivalent in English.

Forests are magical, mysterious, special places, certainly.  It is easy to feel alone in them.  Yet, somewhere else has the same effect on us.

Below the choppy chatter of our minds is a place where we feel adrift, lost, fearful even.  We do not know which direction to turn, except that there is no direction to turn.  All the directions are the same direction.  We are left with only ourselves, out in the middle of nowhere.  The feeling is waldeinsamkeit.