Love the freedom to be alone...

I have been with people almost every day since school ended. I enjoy very much being with people but I also require time alone to recharge and to remain socially adept. Last night I had some of my neighbors over for dinner and we had a delightful time together. I love my neighbors and I cherish the new and beautiful friendships I am building up with some of them. The previous night I had some of my students and colleagues over for dinner. We also had an excellent time together and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I also had friends over during the Bayou Boogaloo. Social connections and solid friendships are essential to our human existence. My mother was always a social butterfly and growing up we always had guests and people coming in and out of our house. Entertaining and cooking for others was one of her many gifts. She never stopped. I appreciated that side of her but I also liked my father’s ways. He enjoyed drinking with his buddies on occasions but for the most part, when he wasn’t working, he enjoyed spending time alone in his garage, working on his cars. He also loved his job because it took him away to isolated oil refineries and away from civilization for weeks at a time. I have that side of him and sometimes I want to shut out the entire world and exist in a very quiet universe of my own with only my pets. I can go weeks without turning on the TV. It’s a bit harder for me to stay away from social networking because I am always online reading, studying, teaching or doing some other kind of work. But I sometimes also disconnect completely and take long breaks from these cyber spaces. Then there are days when the best of me is found in the company of friends and people but one does not happen without the other. Being single allows me the freedom to be with people and to be totally alone when I want to. In the past, however, my need to be alone has been hugely misinterpreted as me no longer being interested in the other person. Upon entering a relationship, I need a disclaimer that says: time alone is a must for me to fully function and be my best self and it isn't at all a reflection of how I feel about you. Time alone for me includes traveling alone and taking long hiatuses from all routine, escaping from everything and everyone. I am at my best when I am given the freedom of doing that without the burden of making anyone around me feel unwanted.

Off to my spinning class…