Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Its me, Hannah, back with a post.

What I am talking about today is a subject many people are confused about. It is the importance of being alone.

Today, in our society, we are taught to FEAR being alone. We are terrified to not have someone to talk to, terrified to be the person with the fewest friends. No one seems to want to be “that person” who doesn’t have a very social life, who is, instead of popular and surrounded by friends 24/7, someone who spends most of their free time alone.

But why do we fear being alone? Well, for one thing, we want to seem like the nicest, friendliest person around, right? And, wouldn’t being the nicest person around mean you have 20 friends? Some of us seem to put our worth in how many people want to be around us or how long they want to be around us.

It’s a similar situation with our schedules. We seem to believe that the more crammed our schedule is, the more important we are. If 3 people invited you to visit this week, you know they hold you to at least some value. It says to you that they have reason to want to see you. It makes you feel wanted. Or, if you go to a dinner party your co-worker is hosting. Even if you barely know this co-worker, (and they may have invited many or all other co-workers) still, they wanted you there. Or if you take a certain class (that you don’t need), at the end, you still feel good. You get that feeling that says, “Wow! I didn’t sit at the couch and watch TV all day! I did something productive! I did something important!”

We fear down time to be alone, because doesn’t that mean that we don’t have someone to spend time with? Well, that isn’t necessarily the case. Actually, that isn’t the case at all. A busy schedule can make you more stressed, even if most of the items on it don’t seem stressful. A class that is not necessary that teaches a subject you know almost everything about can be pointless, and the OPPOSITE of productive.

There is something people don’t always seem to think of when it comes to relaxation. When someone hears the term relaxation, they may think of a spa trip, or meditation. But something often overlooked is time alone, which can have many benefits. It can make you happier, and more peaceful.

Alone time doesn’t even need to be very long, either. Sometimes just 10 minutes of being alone can relieve stress. It gives you an opportunity to think and relax. To spend time with your pet or watch a video. It gives you an opportunity to take a break from the crazy world around you.

Being alone isn’t something to fear. Being alone can actually be fun! And being away from people for a while can make you less irritable too!

Well, that pretty much sums it up. Make sure to like this post and subscribe to my mom’s blog!

-Hannah

Updated Reference Note by Ariana: I have heard Hannah discuss many of these ideas and sentiments with me in the past few months- she definitely loves her alone time. But after a deeper discussion with me this afternoon, she told me she thought about some details that she very much agreed with of a book she read recently (at my request) by Amy Morin as she was writing it. We both decided we needed to add this explanation to this post to appropriately acknowledge that her agreement with Ms. Morin influenced her topic choice for this post. 2/1/2019