It’s a good time to recharge, time for self-reflection and self-discovery, and it’s essential.
It’s good to have your personal space
By Win Pyae Pyae Phyo (Hazel), Contributor
For some, solitude is a daunting prospect, while for others, solitude is one of life’s most rewarding experiences. For no apparent reason, I stumbled onto Emma Chamberlain’s podcast Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain. ‘Alone but not lonely’ was the episode that caught my eye. My introverted nature was intrigued by the title, drawing my attention. A lot of individuals, including myself, were once afraid of being “alone.” I used to be someone who sought out and desired a connection and a social circle in my life, and I was afraid of not having friends. Now, I truly value and love spending time alone, surrounded by peace and serenity. I hope to share how spending time all by yourself is refreshing rather than depressing. Unfortunately, people have often viewed solitude as a pitiful or negative thing. But I’d like to show that it’s not.
Emma emphasized at the beginning that just being alone has pluses and minuses for everyone, and that’s true. The negative aspect of being alone is that you can lose perspective. When you are wrapped up in your own world you can become narrow-minded. Additionally, solitude can provide the ideal situation for negative, self-critical thoughts to blossom. When you focus too much emphasis on yourself, you will begin to nitpick and critique yourself. You are, in this sense, your own worst enemy. Nonetheless, solitude is often a positive experience for me if I have someone to talk to or contact daily (a few friends or family members).
I especially like the way she established a connection between spending time alone and distance running. Running can be excruciatingly unpleasant, uncomfortable, and brutal at first. It’s horrible and distressing. As time passes, it finally dawns on you, and you begin to fall in love with the process of running and you begin to anticipate it. Spending time alone is the same way. It can be tedious and unpleasant at first. Later, you’ll recognize that the time you spend with yourself is fulfilling and brings you comfort.
What I resonate with the most in this episode is that the activity that you do eventually becomes fascinating and holds a special place in you. To Emma, cooking, at first, was just a task to fill your appetite and the steps that need to be done to get the food you desire just take time. When she started watching cooking videos with attention and purpose, she slowly began to discover that cooking is a fun, interesting activity. In my case, it would be editing on Procreate, I thought that the process was too long; however, when I began watching Instagram reels of people editing, that did convince me to learn more about the editing process. One of the most valuable lessons I learnt from spending time alone editing was that the act of creating is truly satisfying and enjoyable, regardless of the outcome.
Solitude has both benefits and drawbacks, but I normally consider it to be a wonderful experience unless I’m completely empty and emotional. There’s nothing wrong with being in your own world. It’s a good time to recharge, time for self-reflection and self-discovery, and it’s essential. You can develop and build your opinions when you have time to yourself. Finally, I’d like to highlight that, while being alone can be melancholy, it is not pitiful. Solitude is relaxing, soothing, and carefree!
