I have heard people saying being alone doesn’t equate to loneliness. And I fully agree. There’s actually a not-so-thin line between the two which we often overlook. Don’t get it? Here’s an example.
Your parents/husband/roommate is out of town for a couple of days. You are pretty comfortable staying alone and hence you go about your work as usual. You use the time @ hand to do some reading that you’ve been meaning to do, watch re-runs of your favorite TV show, sing at the top of your voice without bothering anyone, sleep right on the couch without bothering about the next meal and talk to yourself just for the sake of it. That’s being alone!
You feel like there’s none to talk to or understand you. Not one of your acquaintances turn into friendships. You feel there is no one who matches your frequency of thinking. You miss your best friend who is unfortunately living in a different city or worse a different country. You miss your mom and dad and wish you could just leave everything and head back home. You have everything and everyone around you but all you feel is the sad feeling that no one’s around. That’s lonely!
The second case of being lonely can happen even when you are surrounded by people. People whom you don’t relate with or who don’t relate with you. Why am I now writing about this? Let me tell you. I am a person who is very comfortable with some alone time. I enjoy it. As much as I love my husband and parents, I have always carved out that personal space where I do things which I like without anyone’s interference. I don’t go in search of such time. It comes to me. Be it 10 minutes of a day or an entire weekend when hubby is out of town, I enjoy the time at the same level. I drown in a good book, watch re-runs of movies and shows, roam around the house cleaning and singing along with my favorite song which I can play on endless repeat.
My problem comes when people around me think I will get lonely because I am alone at home and start inviting me over. My MIL and grandma get concerned when hubby has to go out of town and start suggesting people whom I can visit so that I don’t have to stay alone. I appreciate their concern and at the same time politely tell them that I am very very looking forward to some ‘me’ time. After a few attempts, they understood. My mom calls twice a day to see how am doing. I tell her I am so enjoying it. My hubby still feels restless of leaving me alone at home while I am constantly assuring him that I am actually having a party all by myself 🙂 Of course, I will miss being with him but that’s natural. I will deal with it and get on with my work.
So next time you are saying that you are lonely, think twice. Are you alone or are you lonely? My mantra is “If you are not fully comfortable being alone with yourself, then you can’t be so with anyone else.”
Until later 🙂
Invite us to your party sometime. 😛
Yes, we will be disturbing your “me time”, but still do consider. Like a bloggers meet, kind of. #justSaying
I too like to be alone and do things on my own. There is this kind of freedom which nothing else could beat.
Take care. 🙂
It is a party only because I enjoy it alone 🙂 To enjoy with others, we need a different kind of party. We should plan something like that sometime. Every time I think of it but then it gets lost in the fast-paced life.
Thanks for reading!
I totally agree with you here. I too enjoy my time alone!
Thanks for reading! It’s a gift to not feel lonely when alone and I am glad we could do it.
Love the part about ‘me’ time. All of us need some of it, always 🙂
Beautifully written….
True, thanks for reading and welcome to my space.
I found myself nodding at each of the sentence you have written. I absolutely love my ‘Me time’ as I like to call it. If I don’t get that in a day, I would go cranky. Loneliness can be depressing but truly reveling in your own company is a blessing that many don’t get to enjoy. Well said, K!