Perceived as regularly being a bad thing, linked to those feelings of being alone and sad. But with the right perspective, loneliness can become an amazing trick up your sleeve. Welcoming in solitude can help cultivate more creativity, self-awareness, and emotional strength. Often, people resonate with leave me alone quotes, finding solace and empowerment in their solitude. This article helps you to understand some psychology of enjoying loneliness, and how to leverage solitude for growth and well-being.
Understanding Loneliness vs. Solitude
Loneliness is a mental state in which a person feels isolated or alone which often results in depression, or an empty feeling. This is what you mean when you want to be social and around people. Whereas, solitude is being alone and not feeling lonely. It is an act of choice to self, which has its own benefits on our mental and emotional well-being.
Pros of Welcoming the Solitude
Increased Creativity
Solitude creates room for creative thinking. Because the brain has no external interruptions from talking, hearing, and otherwise socializing, it is able to deviate and find a solution to things. Solitude has long been described by famous creatives (think Virginia Woolf, Henry David Thoreau, et. al.) as playing a role in their creative process.
Enhanced Self-Awareness
Time alone fosters introspection and self-reflection. It provided a forum for people to explore their own thoughts, emotions, and behaviours independently from outside influence. This increased self-awareness can help an individual to understand values and what is really important to them, as well as their strengths and where they need to do some growing up.
Emotional Resilience
Getting comfortable with loneliness can be a practice in emotional strength. Therefore, if someone enjoys their own company, they would need others less for approval and help. This level of independence develops a greater sense of self, and the capacity to survive the ups and downs of life with far less ease.
Overcoming the Challenges
Societal Stigma
Loneliness is quite often stigmatised in our society as a morally negative attribute that stems from failure or some kind of social rejection. This stigma makes it hard for a lot of people to comfortably experience solitude without feeling judged. By resisting these norms and seeing the merits of being alone, will allow for enjoying the richness of solitude.
Initial Discomfort
This turn from loneliness to solitude can be a rough one, as I discuss in the article. A lot of people are not used to being alone, so going from work to working from home might leave you feeling weird and unsettled at first. Fading the amount of time you can be alone and incorporating fun activities can help to make this process more comfortable.
How To Make The Best Of Solitude In A Healthy Way
Mindfulness
Mindfulness practice enhances the experience of solitude. When we learn to stay present, we develop a relationship with ourselves by observing our thoughts, feelings, and emotions without jumping to judgement, thereby avoiding being lost amidst them. Here are a few tips for practicing mindfulness alone: Practice meditation, deep breathing and mindful walking are perfect ways to develop mindfulness in solitude.
Journaling
Journaling is a highly transformative practice for anyone who is looking to take ownership over their life and willing to dive deep into what is really happening within their mind and heart. When you write your thoughts, feelings, and experiences, it also gives you clarity and perspective. It is also a personal growth record that can tell a story of where someone has improved or a story of development that they have not yet realized was there.
Setting Boundaries
This implies creating an exclusive zone for your solitude and for you in general, you must be determining when and how you need to take your alone time. Educating loved ones about the need for solitude and dedicating time to be with yourself can be a way of having that healthy social-loneliness scale.
Final Words
Using this time of loneliness is a wonderful opportunity to learn to love it, and investing (because it is a wise investment of time) in yourself. When people come to understand the power of being alone and can work through some of the challenges that alone presents, they build emotional resilience, self-awareness, and creativity in themselves. The path of getting to a place where to be alone is not to be lonely, is a path that leads to being in better touch with oneself, therefore having more to give, leading to a more balanced and complete life.
Because In a world that pushes socialisation as the default, and social media as the other default, taking time for yourself can be a true fucking act of love towards yourself. If we reframe loneliness and build the welcome for solitary time, we can begin to open a wider door into personal development and happiness.
