Sometimes the time best spent is the time spent alone
Growing up, I was a pretty introverted kid. I could spend hours by myself with my nose in a good book, writing stories on my computer or engrossed in a new art project. That didn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy spending time with family and friends, but I could find an equal amount of joy and satisfaction on my own. It was easy for me to look to myself for my own company, but as I’ve grown older I’ve had a harder time finding joy in doing the things I love by myself.
For a while after I got to college, I simply didn’t have enough time to spend on the solo hobbies I used to enjoy like reading, writing and creating and I got used to spending time with friends instead of making time for myself. I started feeling self conscious about going out and doing things alone because it seemed like everyone around me were with friends or groups, so I felt discouraged about trying things out alone.
Recently though, I had the opportunity to attend a concert alone and I absolutely loved it. While I was sitting in the audience, I saw that a lot of people were there alone, just like me, and I realized that it wasn’t as scary as I made myself believe. I left the concert in a great mood, and I was glad that I decided to spend some quality time alone. Since then, I’ve tried to find more opportunities to do things alone and I haven’t regretted it once. From going to an orchestra concert to going to the gym, I’ve rediscovered the joy in doing things alone, and I’ve even taken up some of my previously forgotten hobbies like reading and crocheting.
For me, spending time with myself again wasn’t easy at first, but now it’s something I like to do regularly. It’s incredibly freeing to have complete control over what you choose to do and how you choose to spend your time alone––some of my favorite excursions were done alone.
If you’ve been wanting to find more joy in spending time alone, take this as your sign to try out some solo dates because there is an endless amount of activities you could do. Some of my favorite solo dates include going to a new coffee shop with a good book, exploring the thrift store or farmer’s market, window shopping at the mall, going to a concert or an art museum, building a lego set or watching my favorite movie with a cozy book. There are so many more ideas that are only limited by your imagination.
All of this is to say, don’t let your fear of doing things alone stop you from doing something that you really want to experience. What I’ve learned from my journey rediscovering the joy in spending time alone is that I’ve never regretted trying something out alone, but I have regretted not doing it at all. Once I let go of the notion that I needed to do the things I loved in order to have a good time, I realized that I had all the joy I needed within myself already. I hope that the same joy can find you too.