Living alone is an experience that everybody should go through. Whether you end up loving it or hating it, it's a worthwhile adventure.
I have lived alone quite a bit for only being 19 years old. Each time I found out that I would have my own place (aka a bachelor pad), I was ecstatic. But no one really tells you what it's like to live alone. Maybe, they have. But, experiencing it is a whole another story.
Here are five things that I learned from my experience.
1. There's a void.
When you first walk into your new apartment, there's this sense of freedom. No roommate telling you to wash the dishes. No one to say that your music is too loud. You can walk around in your birthday suit... whenever. But this advantage quickly turns stale. The tenth time you walk into your apartment, you don't really feel freedom. You feel a void. In order to fill this emptiness, you play music or (if you're like me) you talk to yourself out loud. Trust me this void will pop-up time and time again.
2. Your phone will become your roommate.
A lot of the time, when I am nervous or lonely, I pull out my phone. The number of instances this happens is shocking. All I want to do in these kinds of moments is connect with people in any way. Scrolling through Instagram, commenting on Facebook, or sending random Snapchats. On the outside, it seems like it is the solution to being alone, but really it only exacerbates the problem.
Instead of spending hours "connecting" with people online, I could have been interacting with my neighbors, the scenery, or myself. Your phone could be that roommate that holds you back. Don't let it.
3. Loneliness and monotony can happen.
It's impossible not to feel lonely. You go to bed alone and you wake up alone. In addition, there is a tendency for you to follow a schedule because there's no one to change it. You wake up, you shower, you make eggs... every morning alone. There are mornings that you feel like you don't want to get out of bed.
You can't let this happen. Since you do live alone, change it up every day. Go to the gym late at night. Invite friends over for dinner. Do things that add to the dynamic of your life. When you feel lonely, don't sit in sadness like I did a couple times. Meet someone new. Maybe meet a new person everyday. I did and now one of them beats me at FIFA almost every night.
4. You treasure people more.
Finally, advantages. After living alone for a month, I started noticing how much more I treasured people's company. When I would be with others I would be more energetic and open. The fact that after we part ways, I would eventually return to my empty apartment, made me more inclined to show them in that moment how much I cherished their presence.
Living alone didn't just affect my relationships with people I was physically with but also with those I hadn't seen. When you're alone, you have a lot of time to call up old friends and catch-up with them. With such a empty space, you have so much room to think about the people that have impacted your life.
5. You discover yourself.
With all the time and space, it's inevitable that you discover new things that you didn't know about yourself. I discovered that I like to write and now I'm an Odyssey writer. When you're alone, don't waste your time. You'll be surprised what you find out when you forcibly fill the void instead of wallowing in it.
Even though living on your own is tough, it's a good learning experience that will make you grow. The things I learned in these empty apartments make my life so much fuller and I feel blessed.
