Yet another artifact from an incomplete website of mine, I hope you enjoy this philosophical guest essay by the aforementioned Matthew Bunn.

Existential Loneliness, or the Laundry Dream
by Matthew Bunn
I call it ‘existential loneliness’ when one feels an impossible
distance between themselves and all other people. This can’t be
bridged by common beliefs, interests, or aspirations. One feels stuck
in the world, determined to contact other people, and incapable of
doing so. Either everyone feels this way or no one does. Some people
think it is condition of what has haphazardly been termed ‘the modern
age.’

For all those existential-lonely souls out there, I offer a perverse
dream of mine. It is the kind of dream that I cannot un-dream, however
absurd and impossible it may be. I call it the ‘laundry dream:’
I call it ‘existential loneliness’ when one feels an impossible
distance between themselves and all other people. This can’t be
bridged by common beliefs, interests, or aspirations. One feels stuck
in the world, determined to contact other people, and incapable of
doing so. Either everyone feels this way or no one does. Some people
think it is condition of what has haphazardly been termed ‘the modern
age.’

For all those existential-lonely souls out there, I offer a perverse
dream of mine. It is the kind of dream that I cannot un-dream, however
absurd and impossible it may be. I call it the ‘laundry dream:’

One day, I will get all of the clothes clean. All the laundry will be
done. No sock will remain hidden, no pair of pants wadded up in a heap
under the bed. It will all be clean. I will have a way that the
clothes become clean without my ever having to be concerned with them
again. For practical purposes, this is preferable. I would have a
perfect system, where clothes would always be clean and laundry would
never trouble me again.

And then life will truly begin.

If only I could get out of the interminable burden of doing laundry, I
reason, I could devote my pent-up energies towards more creative and
uplifting tasks. I will find true love, fight against injustice, and
achieve greater understanding of the nature of human reality. My
social standing will increase. The answers to life’s mysteries lie
just over the horizon.

Unfortunately, there is always a sock. Sometimes, it’s a towel. No
matter how hard I try, I can’t get everything in at once. And because
I can’t unburden myself of laundry, I have to wait for life to begin.

One day I will pay off my credit card. One day I will have vacation
days to spend. One day I will know how to defeat injustice and
bigotry. “One day my prince(ss) will come.” One day I will gather up
all the loose threads of my life into a seamless whole, perfectly
stitched together in the form of a single sock. It will be the last
piece of laundry to do, and when it is clean, my burdens have ended.

And then life will truly begin.