Loneliness Ameliorated Through Writing?

This quote from William Kenower in The Author, an online newsletter from Pacific Northwest Writers Association, hit me at the holidays. I was feeling lonely although not alone, and sometimes in a crowd; a not uncommon experience for me during times of expected celebration, such as  birthdays.

"Writing answered loneliness, and perhaps precisely because I had to do it alone. Not only did I require physical isolation, but mental as well. One thought of another person and the spell of writing was ruined. But within that spell I felt the very opposite of loneliness. Within that spell, life seemed as interesting and available as the perfect lover, and loneliness seemed like nothing but a restless lie in search of an empty night to ruin."

I had inadvertently stumbled on the outcome Kenower expressed, although with less insight and fewer inner words to express the experience. It's the kind of detachment from one's inner self that meditation provides, while also an intensity of absorption that I rarely find in other activities of my life. Comforting.

 What do you find about writing and loneliness?