The Unknown Innate Desire for Intimacy

Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse had many relatable passages but to me, none more so than the following:

"It was not knowledge but unity that she desired, not inscriptions on tablets, nothing that could be written in any language known to men, but intimacy itself, which is knowledge" (51).

To me, this quote somehow describes something that every single human being desires for, whether it be known by them or not. I thoroughly believe that there is something intangible that every human being searches for, something that consists of love and intimacy and unity, as so eloquently written by Virginia Woolf.

I had yet to be able to put this thing or feeling into words, however while reading To the Lighthouse, I found them all laid out for me when I was not even looking.

However, I think everyone searches for it in different ways. Lily searched for it through her art, and Mrs. Ramsay through raising a family. Personally, I think I search for it through languages. I have an unexplainable love for languages, and reflecting on this idea, I believe that my love for languages stems from the idea that a language connects me to thousands and thousands of new people.

Although this idea is rather abstract, I believe that this "desire" is innate in every human, even the crazy outliers like serial killers. In fact, it is this desire that drives everyone to do what they do. Whether it is painting, or learning languages, or even destroying things. Everyone is just searching for that one other person, or that one group of people with whom they feel intimate or unified.