How to Be Alone Without Being Lonely

For a long time I thought being alone meant something had gone wrong. I associated it with sadness, with being left behind, with quiet houses on Sunday afternoons that felt too big.

Then somewhere along the way I started to like it. Not all the time, I am human, but more often than not. I learned that solitude and loneliness are not the same thing. One is a place you choose. The other is a place you get stuck in.

I started small. A walk on my own. A meal at the kitchen table without the television on. An evening with a book and no plans. At first it felt strange. Then it felt like freedom.

When you can sit with yourself and feel okay, everything else in your life changes. You stop accepting crumbs. You stop chasing people who do not really want to be caught. You become very good company, first and foremost, to yourself.