One of the things I've struggled with in the last year is how to be alone. For over 12 years I shared a life and a home with another human being so being alone was not something I had to worry about. But now I am single. There is no one else when I come home but Psycho Kitty. There are no built-in safety nets for holidays and long weekends and birthdays. There is just me.
I have learned in the last year that being alone is ok. In fact, I have worked very hard and continue to work hard to learn how to be alone and how to embrace it. That doesn't mean that at times I don't feel lonely. In fact, quite the contrary. I feel lonely more than I'd care to admit. But even people coupled off with families feel lonely sometimes. It's just part of life.
This video appeared on The Bloggess over 2 weeks ago. I don't always click on every link she has in her "This week on shit-I-didn't-come-up-with-but-wish-I-did-because-it's-kind-of-awesome" section, but the title of this caught my eye and The Bloggess does not lie. This video is all kinds of awesome. ALL KINDS.
In case you don't feel like you have 4 minutes and 35 seconds to spare, let me share with you my two favorite quotes:
"Lonely is a freedom that breathes easy and weightless, and lonely is healing if you make it."
"If you're happy in the head then solitude is blessed and alone is ok."
Yes. Alone is ok. Very ok.
Being alone is different from being lonely, I've learned this past year. I often like to be alone. But lonely is much harder to deal with.