In the midst of my procrastination this week, I fell down the rabbit hole called “the internet” and stumbled across a YouTube video that got me thinking. You might have seen it floating around social media this week. It is a poem preformed by Tayna Davis entitled, “How To Be Alone.” It really made me think: are we ever really alone? I can’t seem to think of the last time I sat down and was completely alone with just my thoughts. My phone is practically attached to my hand; if by chance I am alone eating lunch or waiting for class to start I’m checking my email or scrolling through Twitter. We lead such busy and technology-heavy lives, it feels impossible to escape our realities. I think it would be good, at least for me, to be alone from time to time to get to know myself a little better.
But for some reason the minute we hear the word “alone,” we panic. Why are we so afraid of being alone? Are we scared of who we really are? Are we scared of having only our own opinions to ponder? Why do we assume it’s sad to be alone? We tend to look down on those we see alone and write them off as social outcasts. But what if they have it right? I think taking a few minutes out of busy lives to get to know ourselves could really make positive changes. There is so much to discover about ourselves, we all bring unique and different perspectives that it would be a shame to push them under the surface. Now I’m not encouraging everyone to stop all social interaction and be alone all the time. Social interaction is essential as human beings; it is what makes us grow. We learn a lot from social interaction, but I think this week we should flip the table and get to know ourselves. Maybe just a second before class to be still or maybe we can work our way to a lunch alone. Remember there is nothing wrong with being alone.
“Society is afraid of alonedom, like lonely hearts are wasting away in basements, like people must have problems if, after a while, nobody is dating them. But lonely is a freedom that breaths easy and weightless and lonely is healing if you make it.” -Tayna Davis