More often than not, the concept of solitude is viewed as something negative. People often rush into marriages because they are terrified of being alone for the rest of their lives. Being alone can be thought of as sad or dangerous if you do not have companionship. A person who lives alone might be assumed to have no friends or be depressed. However, being alone does mean that someone is lonely.
There is a distinct difference between solitude and loneliness. According to Dictionary.com, solitude is defined as “the state of being or living alone,” while loneliness is defined as “characterized by a depressing feeling of being alone.” Having a balance of human interaction with being alone can be beneficial. I, for one, genuinely enjoy being alone when I want to be.
Alone time is actually something that can be beneficial for people. It gives the mind a chance to take a break from the constant flow of interaction and information. A person can relax and not worry about how others view them or constantly be aware of their effects upon others. I find it exhausting to always be interacting with other people, so I treasure my alone time.
I can always tell when I need to be on my own when I feel exasperated or frustrated with everything that is going on around me. Little things will start to make me agitated and I become short-tempered. Then, when I finally am alone, I feel all of the tension leaving my body. I am free to read or listen to music or watch a movie without worrying about someone questioning me or reminding of something I need to do. After a period of being alone, I honestly feel refreshed, revitalized, and ready for whatever comes my way.
There are also health benefits to being alone! In 2013, The Huffington Post published the article “Being Alone: 7 Reasons Solitude Can Be Good For You,” which outlined how alone time can be beneficial, including improving memory, increasing creativity, boosting self-esteem, and reducing your risk of depression. These findings, quite frankly, are contrary to popular opinion as many people associate being alone with being depressed. Psychology Today published a similar article describing that being alone can help you work through problems and enhance your relationships with other people. As a person who enjoys solitude, I can vouch for these effects.
We need to change our perception of solitude. If a person enjoys being alone, that does not mean that they are depressed or lonely or antisocial as we seem to believe. Likewise, being alone does not mean that you will always live alone or that you are doomed to a life of no human interaction. I am not encouraging people to isolate themselves entirely from the world around them, just to realize that is perfectly normal, even healthy, to spend some time with nothing around you but your own thoughts.
