Me, Myself, and I
The Audacity of Solitude
Ah yes, the dreaded silence. Just you, your thoughts, and the gaping void of your unprocessed emotions. Terrifying!
I get it… We’re not exactly encouraged to spend quality time with ourselves. In fact, society has essentially created a 24/7 distraction buffet just so we never, EVER have to face the echoing question: “Who even am I without my group chats, TikTok reels, and urgent Teams messages from Jeff in middle management?”
To put it bluntly: if you never spend time alone, you’re probably emotionally constipated. And not in a cute, quirky way. In a “why do I always need external validation to feel like I exist” way.
Why Being Alone is the Secret to Growth
You Actually Meet Yourself. Being alone is where the real party is at. You know, the one where you confront all the weird, uncomfortable stuff you’ve been avoiding since the early 2000s? The fear of failure, the crushing need to achieve, that unresolved drama with your mom…
Silence = Insight. When you’re not bombarded by people talking about their oat milk preferences or recounting their fourth identical breakup, your brain can finally breathe. You might even have a thought that isn’t a meme. Revolutionary.
You Stop Performing. Alone, there’s no audience. No need to be charming, agreeable, or fake modest about your minor achievements. You just are. Like a houseplant, but with existential dread and a Spotify account.
But Why Are We All Addicted to Being Around People?
Because avoiding ourselves is practically a team sport now.
Surface-level chatter is safer than emotional excavation. “How was your weekend?” is the MVP of emotional avoidance. We all know it was mostly doom-scrolling and existential panic, but sure. Let’s pretend it was “productive.”
Distraction is easier than introspection. TikTok, Instagram, and Netflix have an algorithm designed to hijack your frontal lobe, and it’s winning. Who has time to meditate when there’s another cute cat video or trashy “Real Housewives” episode to catch up on.
Socialization = validation. If a person sits alone in a café and doesn’t post it with the caption “self-care,” did it even happen? In fact, did anything happen if it wasn’t shared with a world of equally empty people?
Embracing Solitude Without Becoming a Hermit
Curveball: Being alone doesn’t mean becoming a social pariah who speaks in Alan Watts quotes. It just means you’re comfortable enough in your own skin to not constantly need others to fill the silence.
Use alone time to:
Journal the weird stuff. Maybe write a bunch of Substack rants?
Stare at trees like they’re your therapist.
Feel all the feelings that make you human, and occasionally cry over a YouTube video of two old men hugging.
It’s like emotional Weight Watchers. It sucks at first, but eventually, you start flexing self-awareness and people are like, “Whoa, what’s your secret?” And you’re like, “Oh, just decades of repressed sadness and lack of meaning, thanks for asking.”
Final Thoughts from the Void
In a world that rewards being “on” 24/7, solitude is a rebellion. An act of radical self-love. A declaration that you are enough, even when you’re not tweeting, texting, or talking.
So go ahead. Be alone. Reflect. Cry a little. Laugh at your own jokes. Realize you’re kind of amazing.
Then return to society slightly weirder, more grounded, and infinitely harder to manipulate by Instagram ads.