Being Alone

Being alone seems to be a rite of passage for middle class Americans.  Schooling is designed for social exposure - we spend time with classmates, teachers, administrators, and then you hit college and you have roommates and jobs. Suddenly though, you leave your college campus, and you're no longer surrounded by peers.  You have to adapt to not knowing anyone (this is assuming that you leave the city where you attended college).  It's like a little experiment, when left alone, what does the homo sapien do? Seek out new friends? Embrace alone time?

For me, I have come to really enjoy being alone.  In fact, I think a day is not complete without at least a few moments alone.  In this recent column in the NYTimes "On Being Nothing," the author discusses the transitions in finding companionship throughout your life.  I realized that much like Carrie Bradshaw frequently has dilemmas over who she is and if shes paired with the right man, the rest of us should probably take some time alone to see how we would really like to spend that time.  You know, make sure you know who you are before you go off and spend the rest of your life surrounded by your family.  Or maybe by quarter life, it's too late, or too early and you're still surrounded by your immediately family.  The point is, wouldn't it be great if everyone was able to come to the same conclusion as the column's author?

"Instead of pointlessly cursing the sun to go around me, my chance of contentment is learning to orbit, being the world’s audience instead of demanding the world be mine."