I quite like being by myself but, on the same token, I like being connected with others. It’s a funny thing to balance, but it’s quite doable once I understand how I work, how to feed my spirit what it needs, when it needs it.

I think people are oftentimes afraid to be by themselves, that they will be alone for the rest of their lives, no one by their side to hold their hand, to comfort them, to play chess or a board game with, to eat with, to walk in the park with. Sometimes, it’s the simple things we desire the most. We just want human connection, in the end. We want to know that we are, and have been, important to someone else in this world — someone besides ourselves.

But, have you considered this question? Why are we afraid that we’re going to end up by ourselves? Why is that? We don’t know how our lives will end, we don’t know what will even happen tomorrow. Why worry about something we cannot ever know?

Being by yourself can be the most enjoyable, peaceful time you can ever experience. Meditation, for one, is all about being with the self, silently sitting or as the Zen Buddhists put it, “just sitting”, walking quietly, letting thoughts come and go without any opinion or judgment or attachment. Any practice you take up can be regarded as meditation, really.

When there’s nothing blocking the pathway to you and your thoughts, it is a most personable experience you can explore. I’ve discovered that is just one of the little treasures being alone can offer you. It’s really quite nice.