Have you ever lived alone? Let me just tell you–it's a riot. This is my second year of living alone (albeit, on campus, but still!) and I am savoring every moment of it. I come home after a long day of classes and work, and what do I do? I feed my fish, cook dinner naked, and cry to that new Adele single all before having to sit down (with pajama pants on) to finish homework before bed. There's no one to ask me to get dressed, no one to ask me why that box of Oreos has been under my desk for a week, or when I'm planning on cleaning the dishes.
All hygienic questions aside, living alone is the best. It's a time to get to know yourself on an intimate, day-to-day basis and to learn how you operate as an individual when it comes to taking care of yourself and your space without much outside help. Here are the 10 best parts of living alone!
1. If you are having an off day, there's no one around to bother you when you get home.
Sometimes you need to just come home and cry... Who wants an audience for that? On days when you truly need to be alone you can be alone. Ain't nothing better than that.
2. You will only ever have to clean up after yourself.
Enough said.
3. You get to make the space your very own.
Decorating gets taken way less seriously that is should. What's the point of being in a space if you don't have the capability to make it feel like home? Putting up pictures, adding furniture and tapestries–these are all things you can do alone and on your own budget, too.
4. You can make all the noise you want without any of the guilt.
Wanna come home and have an impromptu dance party? Throw down with your significant other? No one (besides maybe your RA) will be there to tell you to turn down the volume, whether it's music or...
5. You get to make your own schedule.
Do you like to wake up at 6:00 a.m.? Pee in the middle of the night? Shower at 1:00 PM? Make your own schedule and stick to it! No one is getting in the way of your daily habits now.
6. You don't have to deal with anyone else's habits or addictions.
I have a girlfriend who solely hates living with her roommates because they smoke weed and cigarettes in the house all-day. Oh, and half way through living together this year, one came out as a post-meth addict. Didn't mention that on Craigslist, did we, friend?
7. You only have to cook for one person.
Being young and in a thriving city is hard enough on your budget. Managing groceries for one person can be a lot of work. Living alone is where no one stealing your food and the menu being whatever you want it to be (remember that peanut butter jar?) is the norm. Score!
8. No one but you will touch or mess with your belongings.
Remember in the 5th grade when you came home to find that your sibling took your Nintendo DS and that skull sweater from the third drawer? Yeah, well I do. When you live alone, that book or secret stash will be right where you left it when you walked out the door.
9. You can practice your hobbies openly and without judgement.
Singing in the shower... singing outside of the shower, painting, writing poetry, watching movies–all of these things are now a solo activity while living alone. Your roommate probably wouldn't have loved listening to you yodel Taylor Swift lyrics, anyway.
10. You can get to understand your isolated self, day by day, on your own time.
Living alone teaches you things: things about yourself and things about your self alone. This is the most priceless thing you'll learn in your youth... Although it must be said: It might not be so priceless to live alone in the city! Do your research, find your budget, and your own personal balances or personal time and social time. If it's meant for you, living alone can be some of the best (or all) years of your life.
