This skill creates structure and boundaries for solitude to occur.
Make time to be alone. Benefiting from solitude starts with carving out time in the first place, a skill that can be difficult when balancing relationships and work.
Often it means negotiating with your partner or family for time and space to be alone.
It helps to explain that everyone will benefit if you get some time to yourself, because you’ll feel recharged and ready to reconnect.
Be mindful of how time in solitude is spent. Using alone time well means different things to different people, but the crux of this skill is paying attention to what you actually need out of your time alone.
We are social beings and we all miss hanging out with friends in person, going out to dinner, concerts sporting events, or dancing or to the beach, without having to worry about contracting the mysterious COVID-19.
Instead, we are spending a lot of time home and alone unless you have kids at home, in which case, you probably wish you had more time alone and more help with homeschooling and managing it all.
Scrolling on social media or watching television may feel restorative after a stressful day at work… or it may distract you from more fulfilling pursuits.
There’s no denying we are social creatures. Yet being alone is also part of the human condition.
Some psychologists consider solitude a basic human need just as important as relationships and view the ability to be alone as a sign of healthy emotional development.
Solitude and isolation are two different concepts.
Solitude is the state of being alone, often by choice, and can be a positive experience that allows for self-reflection and creativity.
Isolation, on the other hand, is the state of being alone involuntarily, often due to external circumstances such as illness or social distancing.
It’s important to maintain a balance between time spent alone and time spent with others to ensure a healthy lifestyle.
In the initial space of solitude, buried emotions, memories, or problems can surface. Rather than avoid distressing feelings, we can learn to engage and approach those emotions with curiosity.
We can use the privacy of our alone time to explore our feelings without judgment. Accepting and expressing these emotions safely helps us self-regulate and release stress.
Engaging in solitude appears to act as a form of self-regulation, helping us balance the constant flux of positive and negative emotional states that befall us.
The negative moods we experience on the surface when we enter solitude may be masking important processes underneath.
Disclaimer: The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional advice. The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensure discussion or debate.
Thank you ….Listen to your solitude signals.
Feeling drained?
Irritated?
Tempted to hide in a closet for a few minutes just for some peace and quiet?
These are all cues that the outside world overstimulates you—too many people, activities, or demands on your time for too long.
Our bodies send us predictable signals when we’ve hit our limit and need some time alone.
Most adults over time that heeding those signals pays off—when they gave themselves the solitude they needed, they avoided those states of depletion even in small doses.
There are a few people who actively choose to remove themselves from the rest of society, or, at least, not to actively seek out social interaction.
Such ‘loners’ the very term is pejorative, implying, as it does, abnormality and deviousness may revel in their rich inner life or simply dislike or distrust the company of others, which, they feel, comes with more costs than benefits.
Do you want to add a word or two?
What sort of social situation they would most like to be in?
Would they rather be interacting with others?
Having others nearby but not interacting. Those who wanted to be alone more often were also more likely to experience the positive type of solitude.
When we deliberately seek solitude—to relax, to problem-solve, to write, to explore—we take charge of our time and engage with our inner selves.
In moderation, solitude can be liberating and restorative, but too much solitude puts a person at risk of poor health.
Who is and is not likely to thrive in solitude and to figure out how much solitude is too much.
Still, solitude, in and of itself, need not feel lonely.
Your Comments……
Solitude is strength; to depend on the presence of the crowd is weakness.
For people who prefer being alone, it can be quite a breath of fresh air to not have to deal with multiple people this pandemic.
But then that wouldn’t be dangerous for them?
It’s comforting for them, but not really addicting or dangerous.
Sure, you enjoy the newfound time you have to yourself. And you probably feel upset whenever someone disrupts that, but I doubt it borders on levels that are “dangerous” enough to impact your health or your career.
Many people disconnect from social activities and seek solitude to improve their well-being. This “Social detox” is a common lifestyle choice when things get overwhelming.
Do people feel better when they spend some alone-time and delete social media apps?
Does distancing from society help?
A lot depends on a person’s motivation, choice, and the intensity of detox. Being alone on purpose is a choice, but being lonely isn’t.
You’ve finally carved out some time for yourself, and you’ve been anticipating it for days.
If you liked this post from DAYAL why not share it?