This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Westminster chapter.
So I’ve noticed that I often catch people telling me, “I always see you by yourself, why are you alone?”
Well, its probably cause I hate the world, and I can’t stand everyone.
Joking, of course.
I’m not alone because I don’t have any friends. I like being alone because I enjoy my own time. I like working by myself, I like getting a cup of coffee from Costa by myself. I genuinely enjoy, proper quality time with myself, because I am able to figure out WHO I AM. I feel as though, in our society, being by yourself is looked at as being weird. Almost like, there has to be some sort of issue with you, if you’re always alone. It’s also not about being self-centered, and thinking you’re better than anybody. It’s just the simple fact of getting to know who you are.
Just like you get to know new people that come into your life, you are becoming aware of your surroundings and your position in life.
To be quit honest, nothings wrong with a person if they’re alone. I feel as though, people who are by themselves, have more of an understanding of their ambience. You learn what you like, without someone giving you their own opinion on things. You learn what you love, you learn about the things that excite you and make you sad. You learn, study, and understand YOU.
The whole statement of “just be true to yourself,” I personally believe stems from being by yourself. Yes, we all learn what kind of people we are from incorporating through others. But you can also learn through yourself.
For instance, books. Reading a book, is pure one on one quality time with yourself. You are engaging with the authors story, and almost playing it out like a movie in your head. You are creating images within your mind, as your eyes take the words and write the script.
Books aren’t even the best example. I believ that going out is probably the one time you can be conscious of yourself. In particular, site seeing or a simple stroll through the park. Our minds are always being occupied by gadgets and social media sites, that we rarely have time to use our eyes as binoculars. Binoculars you ask? Yes, binoculars that allow your eyes to see beyond what’s being placed in front of you. Sometimes, your vision is so closed off, you are oblivious to the things past your eye lids.
A simple stroll through the park, or stroll through the city. Is almost like gallivanting through your thoughts. People you see, places you go, restaurants you eat at, parks you sit in. All come to rejoice, and have a ball in your imagination. As a person, you learn from experiences. You learn from trying new things, and hearing about things.
Some of us often fall into the trap of forming into one another. Everyone wants be accepted by societies titles. Everyone wants to be accepted by the people they are surrounded by. But in reality, you need to accept YOURSELF, before you can allow for anyone to accept you. People my enhance change within yourself, but I believe that you wouldn’t need that change, if you’ve already done it on your own.
To come to an end, IT’S OKAY TO BE ALONE. It’s okay to want to go to downtown, and take stroll through the city. It’s okay to sit in a coffee shop and chat with random people. It’s okay to go into a burger restaurant, and sit down by yourself, and embrace the juicy, deliciousness of the burger.