Something about Solitude is that sometimes, you just want to disappear for a little while. Not because you hate people. It’s not because something is wrong, you are simply tired of the noise, the calls, the messages, the constant need to explain yourself to everybody asking what you are doing, where you are going, why you are quiet.
Sometimes, you’re quiet out of you choice. We have somehow made being alone look like a problem. If someone enjoys his/her own company, we quickly call him/her anti-social or assume they must be lonely.
But solitude and loneliness are not the same thing. Loneliness is wanting someone and having nobody. Solitude is having people around but choosing, for a moment, to be with yourself. And honestly, I think we need more of it. There is so much noise around us that sometimes we forget what our own thoughts sound like.
We get so caught up in relationships, friendships, social media and everybody else’s expectations that we forget to ask ourselves what we actually want.
Solitude gives you that space, it teaches you to enjoy your own company, to sit with your thoughts and, sometimes, to face questions you have been avoiding.
Who am I outside of everyone else? Am I actually happy? What am I holding onto because I am afraid of being alone? And perhaps, when you become comfortable with your own company, you stop holding onto people simply because you are afraid of losing them. You begin to understand that being alone is better than being surrounded by people who constantly make you question your worth.
Perhaps, that is the beauty of solitude. It teaches you that being alone does not mean something is missing. Sometimes, you are simply learning to enjoy the person who has been with you all along.
Yourself.
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