Except for my middle years which were in joyful marriage bliss (well sometimes 🥴) I have been alone in life. I just didn’t seem to understand how not to be alone. To me, being alone was far better than the alternative of being social.

Over those early years, and again now that I am an elder orphan, being alone is once more my way of life

One of the virtues of being alone with your thoughts is that you can see how the nature of your mind reflects the nature of humanity at large. As the common saying goes, we are all one, but the deeper point here is that if you take time to study your mind, you’ll learn more about people than any lecture can provide. The reason for this is simple: While your personal experiences will differ from mine, the emotions that arise from them will be remarkably similar. Desire, fear, angst, joy, greed, lust, compassion, the list goes on. So if I take regular moments to delve deeper into the nature of my experiences, I will understand you much better as a human being.
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One thing I’m realizing over time is that loneliness arises when you don’t know how to be alone. I say “how to be alone” because, believe it or not, it’s a skill. It’s something you have to train for because the natural thing we do when we’re alone is to reach for something that will make us feel like we belong. Why else do you go on social media when you’re alone? Or scroll through Netflix to look for something to watch? That’s because when we’re alone, we immediately look to connect with something to drive away the loneliness.

I can certainly attest to the fact that being alone can enlighten your life. Being alone means that you can put full attention to the task at hand. There is no one to tap you on the shoulder to break your concentration. With my current focus on being artsy and a blogger, I can spend as much time as I need to on one particular subject.

Being alone, to me, is an invaluable asset, especially at this particular time in my life.