Episode 23: Loneliness and Our Stories with Robyn Kown

In this episode, Charlotte reads an essay she wrote about how the church years helps her feel less alone.

As we engage more deeply with the ancient streams of art and faith, how they inform one another, and how all of this can create profound new possibilities for belonging, we need ways to respond.

Through her work as a spiritual director for writers, artists, and those all along the belief-and-unbelief spectrum, Charlotte Donlon explores how belonging intersects with the contemplative life.

This essay was originally published in Christianity Today in 2019. This audio essay is also going to be live on Charlotte's Our Faith in Writing podcast.

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Charlotte Donlon helps readers and clients notice how they belong to themselves, others, God, and the world. Charlotte is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, the Church Street Coffee & Books Writer-in-Residence, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website. She’s also the host for the Hope for the Lonely and A Writer’s Diary podcasts. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. You can subscribe to her newsletter and connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.

Writer and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon goes behind the scenes and provides additional information about each chapter of her first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other.

She also shares details about her writing process, lessons learned from writing her first book, and other insights. The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other explores various angles of loneliness and belonging.

The book’s sections include Belonging to Ourselves, Belonging to Each Other, Belonging to Our Places, Belonging through Art, and Belonging to God. Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com. Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com.

Learn more about The Great Belonging at charlottedonlon.com. Thanks for listening!

Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website. She also hosts A Writer's Diary, a podcast about writing and the writing life.

Charlotte helps readers, clients, and listeners notice how art and other things deepen their belongings to themselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other . You can subscribe to her newsletter here and connect with her on Twitter and Instagram. You can also follow her writing and book-in-progress about parenting with art at parentingwithart.com. 

Writer and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon goes behind the scenes and provides additional information about each chapter of her first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. She also shares details about her writing process, lessons learned from writing her first book, and other insights. The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other explores various angles of loneliness and belonging. The book’s sections include Belonging to Ourselves, Belonging to Each Other, Belonging to Our Places, Belonging through Art, and Belonging to God. Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com. (Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com.)Learn more about The Great Belonging at charlottedonlon.com (https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/). She also hosts A Writer's Diary (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/a-writers-diary-podcast), a daily podcast about writing and the writing life.Charlotte helps readers, clients, and listeners notice how art and other things deepen their belongings to themselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is [The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other](https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). You can subscribe to her newsletter (https://charlottedonlon.substack.com/) and connect with her onTwitter (https://twitter.com/charlottedonlon) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/charlottedonlon/). You can also follow her writing and book-in-progress about parenting with art at parentingwithart.com (https://www.parentingwithart.com/). 

Writer and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon goes behind the scenes and provides additional information about each chapter of her first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. She also shares details about her writing process, lessons learned from writing her first book, and other insights. The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other explores various angles of loneliness and belonging. The book’s sections include Belonging to Ourselves, Belonging to Each Other, Belonging to Our Places, Belonging through Art, and Belonging to God. Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com. (Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com.)Learn more about The Great Belonging at charlottedonlon.com (https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/). She also hosts A Writer's Diary (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/a-writers-diary-podcast), a daily podcast about writing and the writing life.Charlotte’s writing and work are rooted in noticing how art helps us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is [The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other](https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). You can subscribe to her newsletter (https://charlottedonlon.substack.com/) and connect with her onTwitter (https://twitter.com/charlottedonlon) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/charlottedonlon/). You can also follow her writing and book-in-progress about parenting with art at parentingwithart.com (https://www.parentingwithart.com/). 

Writer and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon goes behind the scenes and provides additional information about each chapter of her first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. She also shares details about her writing process, lessons learned from writing her first book, and other insights. The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other explores various angles of loneliness and belonging. The book’s sections include Belonging to Ourselves, Belonging to Each Other, Belonging to Our Places, Belonging through Art, and Belonging to God. Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com. (Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com.)Learn more about The Great Belonging at charlottedonlon.com (https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/). She also hosts A Writer's Diary (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/a-writers-diary-podcast), a daily podcast about writing and the writing life.Charlotte’s writing and work are rooted in noticing how art helps us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is [The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other](https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). You can subscribe to her newsletter (https://charlottedonlon.substack.com/) and connect with her onTwitter (https://twitter.com/charlottedonlon) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/charlottedonlon/). You can also follow her writing and book-in-progress about parenting with art at parentingwithart.com (https://www.parentingwithart.com/). 

Writer and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon goes behind the scenes and provides additional information about each chapter of her first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. She also shares details about her writing process, lessons learned from writing her first book, and other insights. The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other explores various angles of loneliness and belonging. The book’s sections include Belonging to Ourselves, Belonging to Each Other, Belonging to Our Places, Belonging through Art, and Belonging to God. Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com. (Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com.)Learn more about The Great Belonging at charlottedonlon.com (https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/). She also hosts A Writer's Diary (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/a-writers-diary-podcast), a daily podcast about writing and the writing life.Charlotte’s writing and work are rooted in noticing how art helps us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is [The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other](https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). You can subscribe to her newsletter (https://charlottedonlon.substack.com/) and connect with her onTwitter (https://twitter.com/charlottedonlon) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/charlottedonlon/). You can also follow her writing and book-in-progress about parenting with art at parentingwithart.com (https://www.parentingwithart.com/). 

Writer and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon goes behind the scenes and provides additional information about each chapter of her first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. She also shares details about her writing process, lessons learned from writing her first book, and other insights. The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other explores various angles of loneliness and belonging. The book’s sections include Belonging to Ourselves, Belonging to Each Other, Belonging to Our Places, Belonging through Art, and Belonging to God. Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com. (Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com.)Learn more about The Great Belonging at charlottedonlon.com (https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/). She also hosts A Writer's Diary (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/a-writers-diary-podcast), a daily podcast about writing and the writing life.Charlotte’s writing and work are rooted in noticing how art helps us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is [The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other](https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). You can subscribe to her newsletter (https://charlottedonlon.substack.com/) and connect with her onTwitter (https://twitter.com/charlottedonlon) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/charlottedonlon/). You can also follow her writing and book-in-progress about parenting with art at parentingwithart.com (https://www.parentingwithart.com/). 

Writer and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon goes behind the scenes and provides additional information about each chapter of her first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. She also shares details about her writing process, lessons learned from writing her first book, and other insights. The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other explores various angles of loneliness and belonging. The book’s sections include Belonging to Ourselves, Belonging to Each Other, Belonging to Our Places, Belonging through Art, and Belonging to God. Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com. (Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com.)Learn more about The Great Belonging at charlottedonlon.com (https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/). She also hosts A Writer's Diary (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/a-writers-diary-podcast), a daily podcast about writing and the writing life.Charlotte’s writing and work are rooted in noticing how art helps us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is [The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other](https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). You can subscribe to her newsletter (https://charlottedonlon.substack.com/) and connect with her onTwitter (https://twitter.com/charlottedonlon) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/charlottedonlon/). You can also follow her writing and book-in-progress about parenting with art at parentingwithart.com (https://www.parentingwithart.com/). 

Writer and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon goes behind the scenes and provides additional information about each chapter of her first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. She also shares details about her writing process, lessons learned from writing her first book, and other insights. The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other explores various angles of loneliness and belonging. The book’s sections include Belonging to Ourselves, Belonging to Each Other, Belonging to Our Places, Belonging through Art, and Belonging to God. Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com. (Behind the Scenes with The Great Belonging was recorded as a video series that you can view at charlottedonlon.com.)Learn more about The Great Belonging at charlottedonlon.com (https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/). She also hosts A Writer's Diary (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/a-writers-diary-podcast), a daily podcast about writing and the writing life.Charlotte’s writing and work are rooted in noticing how art helps us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is [The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other](https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). You can subscribe to her newsletter (https://charlottedonlon.substack.com/) and connect with her onTwitter (https://twitter.com/charlottedonlon) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/charlottedonlon/). You can also follow her writing and book-in-progress about parenting with art at parentingwithart.com (https://www.parentingwithart.com/). 

This is Hope for the Lonely Unplugged Episode 27: Holiday Loneliness in a Pandemic.

We’re in the middle of a pandemic. People are tired and depleted. It’s easier right now for me to release new episodes without involving a producer, so I’m going to try it. We’ll see how this goes.

In this episode I talk about holiday loneliness during the pandemic. I also talk about a sermon a friend preached about suicide, so this is a content warning for those who need it. I also provide a quick update about The Great Belonging and other things.

Links to articles, etc. mentioned in this episode:

Reducing Holiday Loneliness During a Pandemic
Our Darkest Moments: On Suicide, Faith, and Hope

Charlotte's Book: The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other   

Learn More about Charlotte, Her Writing, and Other Projects

Sign Up For Charlotte's Email Newsletter


Charlotte Donlon helps readers and clients notice how they belong to themselves, others, God, and the world. Charlotte is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, the Church Street Coffee & Books Writer-in-Residence, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website. She’s also the host for the Hope for the Lonely and A Writer’s Diary podcasts. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. You can subscribe to her newsletter and connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.