ABANDONMENT

Abandonment is a leaving-behind, a moving-away, and a personal choice when performed by an agent (contrast this with the concept of forgetting).  I abandon my car that keeps breaking down and walk to the nearest gas station for help.  It sucks to have absolutely no support system in place for doing something, and in fact precisely when we're trying to do something about our situation is when we're abandoned, as this doing something is a prerequisite for abandonment in the first place (I'm being purposefully vague, here, but think it through) .  We leave behind those who can't keep up just as they are finally asking for and counting on help.  Abandonment always occurs at this very second.  We empathize but leave them behind.  We look back but this is only a half-measure and never counts as an actual going-back.  The little bundle of metaphors of moving-away, leaving-behind, letting-alone, looking-back, not-looking-back, even running-away, dropping-a-load, giving up on something, are all very apt at letting us get into the meaning of abandonment.  There's also the notion of isolation, which we should mention: the abandoned is purposely isolated or left-behind.  I think this as I nap nervously.