“Alone” is more often than not viewed as something undesirable, even pitiful. Something that occurs out of our control, following us around like an ominous storm cloud on a clear summer sky and making every experience inherently less pleasant.
I used to hate being alone. I hated the still, suffocatingly quiet feeling that would come upon me and make me crave anything, anything that would surround me with people, voices, and interaction. From a young age, we are taught to fear being alone because to be alone is to be unwanted, but the pain in “alone” comes not from the act itself, but the stigma that we choose to surround it with. In all honesty, as I have come to learn, being by yourself is a beautiful thing.
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You can watch whatever you want to watch, go wherever you want to go, listen to whatever you want to listen, and not have to worry about pleasing anyone or making anyone happy. You can figure out how to do things on your own and be assured that you – yes, you – are a strong, independent human being who does not depend on other people for happiness. You can embrace the world in a whole new way because there is so much around us that often goes by unnoticed as we are distracted by the presence and opinions of others.
When you are alone, you are completely free to be yourself, and there is a simple, irreplaceable beauty in that. Solitude alone is not deserving of pity or fear. Just because you are alone does not mean that you are not in wonderful company.