This post all begins with a text message I had received from my good, female, friend. The fact that I mention she is a she is subtly pertinent to my little anecdote, but mostly in the realm of, "A girl would say that," and nothing more. It was Valentine's Day, and I had received the message during work, where I can occasionally sit for intervals plastered to my phone as a means of respite from the doldrums that is a stable career. The message read,
Happy Valentine's Day :) hope you're not hating today. (...)The entirety of the message is not important to this post, on that you will just have to trust me. I certainly was not hating it more than any other workday up until that message. I messaged her back in witty retort, trying to save some face,
I hope you're not hating today? What's that supposed to mean? -_- lol. Happy V-Day to you madam.After which were a couple of IMs sent to be me explaining in unnecessary detail the very self-aware reasons why I may be hating the holiday. Last I checked, this past Valentine's Day basically was not any different than the ones before.
Which brings me to the topic at hand. Being with oneself.
How to Be Alone
I like that video. Not in a viral, "Dude, have you seen this video?!", kind of way, but I like it. There are some people out there who simply do not know how to be with themselves for prolonged periods of time. An unforeseen tribulation that plagues the people I talk to that have been stepping into "the real world" for the first time is loneliness. For some, this time in their life is their first taste of what it truly means to be one your own. Please note, that being alone is not the same as being lonely. Albeit, they are related, being alone can often make one feel lonely. However, being alone is not as dark of a cave as people make it out to be. One of my favorite quotes from that video goes,Society is afraid of alonedom, like lonely hearts are wasting away in basements, like people must have problems if, after a while, nobody is dating them. But lonely is a freedom that breathes easy and weightless and lonely is healing if you make it.Some of the best experiences in my short life have occurred when I have considered myself flying solo. I have stories of some experiences I have not even shared simply due to incredulity and lack of witnesses; it would be a waste of my time trying to paint a picture when the serendipitous nature of it all is only applicable through my eyes being with myself. It is a double-edged sword, I will admit. The lifestyle is certainly not for everyone. Just because society might be wrong about the darkness of cave, does not take away the fact that it is still a cave.
Plato's Allegory of the Cave
While not completely one to one for the metaphor I am going with, it relates well enough; the video is interesting if you like to philosophize in your spare time. I am not here to say that being lonely is the new popular, nor am I trying to glamorize solitude. However, a little perspective can make all the difference. Do I know how to survive on my own? Certainly. Am I immune to the loneliness? Certainly not. Do I know how to be content by myself? Yes, but as we all know, humans are social creatures and having some people that, you think, know you as well as you know them can be rather fulfilling, at least from what I have experienced. Just as the video quotes Homer,
Better to be the poor servant of a poor master, and to endure anything, rather than think as they do, and take after their manner.
