With people having to self-isolate during this pandemic, the thin line between being alone and feeling lonely may have gotten slightly blurred. According to Aristotle, seeking and maintaining interpersonal relationships is what makes man a social animal. Pandemic has also highlighted that spending time with ourselves can be memorable too. We are free to be our most authentic version when we are alone and can express ourselves more clearly during this time.
Traveling back home from work or school alone and looking at the scurrying outside world through the window feels refreshing and even rejuvenating. If we have a terrible day at school or at our workplace, we are in a hurry to get home, to go to the safety of ourselves. Within the radius of a meter from your bed, you feel the most comfortable- you can reflect on your mistakes, introspect and learn on your own. I think a person can be their best supporter or even the best critic of themselves. We set and break our limitations, feel proud of ourselves and encourage ourselves to be better with time. No matter what advice we receive from our teachers, friends or family, we filter them according to the voice in our head.
By alone-time, I am not just referring to meditation or couch/bedtime; even doing our homework, listening to music, watering our plants, writing and reading are tasks that are not appreciated enough when done alone. Doing tasks on our own helps us bring to light our insecurities, weaknesses and even our strengths. Unknowingly, we get to know ourselves better, giving insight into who we are as a person. I’m sure all of us dance most freely when alone, sing like a self-proclaimed singer and watch cliché movies that we wouldn’t feel comfortable watching in front of others. Now, staying alone at home may be no sweat but doing anything alone in public feels like social suicide. When was the last time you went to grab a bite alone or went to watch a movie alone? When was the last time you shopped without feeling rushed by your friends?
Before writing this article, I decided to check this concept of alone-time in the public sphere practically. I decided to step out without a specific plan in mind and ended up going to watch an anime film that I had hesitated to do before. The movie had been released almost a year ago and I’m sure nearly all anime enthusiasts would’ve watched it through undeniably questionable sources. Still, I wanted to watch it on the big screen. There I was- with my large popcorn and Coke, having what an incomparably relaxing time would look like. What was suspected as social suicide turned out to be a pretty fun day and I owed all of it to myself.
Other than that, I feel we have the most critical epiphanies when alone, probably while taking a shower or staring at a wall. In such situations, we tend to pull out a deeper meaning to a recent experience like a breakup or a falling out with one of our friends. In this mind bubble, you identify your mistakes and make better choices in the future. People often use this time to reaffirm their direction in life and introspect whether they are truly happy and satisfied with life. This short period of introspection leads to them making future plans and finding the purpose of their existence.
The pandemic sure has made the situation tricky for the extroverts as well as the introverts, with introverts getting less time to be alone at home and extroverts having lesser and lesser opportunities to go out. At this point, I would like to add that appreciating the time that you spend alone isn’t an ‘introvert thing’ to do; even extroverts need some alone time to rejuvenate and become more comfortable in their skin. This is so much more than comparing dining out and getting a takeaway while watching a movie. Taking a walk alone in the park or lying on your bed and listening to your comfort song for the 189569th time feels like home because you make it feel so. It’s high time we appreciate ourselves for being through thick and thin and surviving it independently.
That being said, sometimes spending too much time alone can also trap you in your comfort zone that includes only solitary pursuits. Your alone-time shouldn’t be used as a disguise to veil laziness or listlessness. This can hinder the individual growth of a person as well as hurt the people around you. Balancing both social and personal life is like walking on a tight rope but it is extremely vital to give equal attention to both the aspects.