Chronicles of Living Alone

It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.

~ George Washington

It’s a popular belief that living alone is a miserable thing in life. Well, my experience so far has revealed something different. Though my experience was the basis of this post, I didn’t write this article keeping in mind any specific individual. This article defies the rhetoric ‘The Miseries of Living Alone’.

Most of us are raised with the idea that humans are social animals and it is almost impossible for an individual to live alone. And if we grow up surrounded by people and seldom undertake travel, such an idea only gets further rigid.

In my experience, living alone gives an individual the highest degree of liberty. You get all the freedom to make a suitable decision. I see that as a chance to enhance your individuality, in this world full of copycats. It’s not that such decisions never go wrong, but if they do, you have no choice but to take the entire blame on yourself and look for a fix yourself. Believe me, the ability of take the blame serves as the first step in the journey of self improvisation. Then again, those who fear failure and shy away from responsibility, and those seeking comforts in other’s shelter may not agree upon this.

My second point is, living alone teaches the value of both, people as well as things. If you ever set up a house, which has nothing but four walls and a ceiling, you will realize the importance of a couch, table, chairs and even a mattress per se. And even after putting such things in order, there isn’t any honeymoon period. The rule of thumb when you live alone is, “If you drop it, you pick it. If you want it, you make it happen” If you ever get a helping hand in this regard, be it from of your parents, siblings, friends or your spouse, you will realize how important they are in your life. You really learn to appreciate people, even for small acts, which otherwise go unnoticed.

Lastly if you are wondering, how can one, who has been in the ‘comfort zone’ throughout life, live through this transition? Well, for those I would like to paraphrase some lines I read a few days back. “The human mind is funny. At first it is scared of the change. Then it displays a clear resentment. With time it learns to adapt to these changes. Enough time passes and it starts getting so comfortable with these changes that living sans them may become harder”

Also, perception plays a big role here. The very same glass can be viewed as half-empty or half-full. With reference to this post, what some view as loneliness, I view it as solitude. The ‘me-only’ time is fast becoming a scarce resource.