Solitude

Charles Bukowski wrote, "Loneliness is something I've never been bothered with because I've always had this terrible itch for solitude." It's important to know the difference between being alone and being lonely, and they're often confused. For me, being alone is something I choose, loneliness is the result of being alone, or feeling alone when I haven't chosen it, but they aren't the same, and they don't necessarily lead to one another.I love being alone, I love my solitude. I am good at being alone, it's one of the things I like most about myself. I'm proud of it. Knowing that aloneness is something I’m comfortable with makes me feel powerful and peaceful. It makes me feel like my brain is a gold mine, and I'm so lucky to have this imagination. Being alone has always felt deeply indulgent to me, like a day off or being able to buy whatever you want.
Of course, there’s a part of me that thrives on crowds and bustle and ambient noise but I am a person who needs a lot of space, not the physical sort, but the distance from others kind. This is something I'm pretty sure a few people in my life find disarming—because eventually you're supposed to stop being a solitary creature with your own space and start building a space with someone else. And then you add more people to that space. You should do this for a lot of reasons, but also...you don't REALLY want to be alone, right?
Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to be an activists for loneliness, I love the idea of companionship but I think, as with anything, there should be a balance.