Alone is Okay

I was warned by many people that after I graduated college, I would be alone. They said this word with weight and sadness for me. Alone is something to be worked through, gotten over, ignored, avoided.

Since moving to Phoenix, I've had fantastic conversations with my roommate, shared brown bag lunches with the staff at my office, and sipped drinks with one lovely friend I made at work. But oftentimes, I am alone. I am alone when I commute to work, I am alone at my desk with my thoughts and millions of to-do lists, I am alone in my bed at night writing down the day's successes or reading or thinking or dreaming. During one of my first few weekends in Phoenix I went to a restaurant alone and had bar food and a Corona. Yesterday I went to the movies alone. Now I am sitting in the library alone after going to the farmer's market alone. Later today I will go to the museum alone and drive in my car alone, singing loudly to the music on the stereo.

I guess the point of the clip I posted above and the totality of my "alone" experience is that alone is okay. I enjoy myself more than I ever have before. I wonder at the way my mind works; I think about conflicts I have and reflect on what these mean about my character; I love the sound of my own singing voice, even when I don't know the words to a song; I savor the food I can cook for myself and the quiet and peaceful moments I can have just walking from my office to my car. I think sometime I mistake alone for lonely, and they are not the same. Alone can foster a love for self that is far deeper than the love you might know if you never give yourself time to just be. Please don't fall into the trap of thinking I am confused or feeling pity for me. I'm content and centered and enjoying all the things I'd never taken the time to know about myself. Really, alone is okay.