Alone Time

I wrote this post during November last year. Then I watched this video today. I'm slowly but surely realizing something about myself: there's nothing wrong with needing to be alone sometimes.
I don't mean wanting to be alone, although that also applies. I'm talking about a need to be alone; the moments where you feel like you might explode or implode if you can't hide away for half an hour or more. The video I linked above is pretty remarkable and eye-opening. It talks about how our culture today discourages introversion...prizing extroversion. And I'm realizing that's not at all realistic or wise. I'm realizing and beginning to admit that there's nothing wrong with me; I just need my alone time. That isn't a crime, doesn't make me a bitch, and doesn't make me weird. My counselor once said that whether you are an introvert or an extrovert depends on how you recharge; if you need to be around people to recharge, you're an extrovert. If you need to be alone, you're an introvert. I think that's the most simple and beautiful explanation I've ever heard of that classification and I love it.
So what does all this mean? Well...for one, it means I'm not going to feel bad for not wanting to be social 24/7 anymore. I'm not going to feel bad for feeling like a hermit sometimes (even if we are hermits a bit too much). I'm not going to feel bad for needing those moments in solitude...because, really, I value solitude. Maybe it was periods of my childhood that were spent without any real playmates for periods of time that contributed to this. I don't know. But it's who I am and I'm not going to apologize for it. I'm not going to let myself feel or be made to feel like a weirdo anymore. Because, actually, I'm pretty cool.

Photo: Si2 found via Invisible Children