I've had a bit of an exhausting past week to say the least.
And it's left me feeling utterly drained, by everything and everyone.
Feeling the need to disconnect for a bit, it got me thinking, the way our society is built these days...
it doesn't feel super easy to do that. We're almost made to feel guilty for wanting to do so.
I'm sure you guys can relate to this struggle on some level!
In true coincidental yet meaningful fashion, the universe allowed me to stumble upon an old article published about 'The Power of Lonely'.
We as humans are social animals, we need human interaction and know that isolation can be harmful for us. But, there is another side...
So, all I really want to do is highlight a few parts of the article that I feel like us as a generation need to read and be reminded of ☺️
Have a read!
"An emerging body of research is suggesting
that spending time alone, if done right, can be good for us — that certain
tasks and thought processes are best carried out without anyone else around,
and that even the most socially motivated among us should regularly be taking
time to ourselves if we want to have fully developed personalities, and be
capable of focus and creative thinking. There is even research to suggest that
blocking off enough alone time is an important component of a well-functioning
social life — that if we want to get the most out of the time we spend with
people, we should make sure we’re spending enough of it away from them. Just as
regular exercise and healthy eating make our minds and bodies work better,
solitude experts say, so can being alone."
“There is something very liberating for people about
being on their own. They’re able to establish some control over the way they
spend their time. They’re able to decompress at the end of a busy day in a
city...and experience a feeling of freedom.”
"In an age when no one is ever more than a text
message or an e-mail away from other people, the distinction between “alone”
and “together” has become hopelessly blurry, even as the potential benefits of
true solitude are starting to become clearer."
"[There is] benefit from time spent apart from
others, in part because it allows for a kind of introspection — and freedom
from self-consciousness — that strengthens their sense of identity."
"Too much solitude is unequivocally harmful and
broadly debilitating, decades of research show. But one person’s “too much”
might be someone else’s “just enough,” and eyeballing the difference with any
precision is next to impossible."
(^Read: Do what is best for you! How you want to do it, when you want to do, it's what you want.)
"Insofar as there is a consensus among solitude
researchers, it’s that in order to get anything positive out of spending time
alone, solitude should be a choice: People must feel like they’ve actively
decided to take time apart from people, rather than being forced into it
against their will."
"Sherry Turkle, director of the MIT Initiative on
Technology and Self, argues in her new book, “Alone, Together,” that people
should be mindfully setting aside chunks of every day when they are not engaged
in so-called social snacking activities like texting, g-chatting, and talking
on the phone."
“People make this error, thinking that being alone
means being lonely, and not being alone means being with other people,”
Cacioppo said.
“You need to be able to recharge on your own sometimes. Part of
being able to connect is being available to other people, and no one can do
that without a break.”
I don't openly give myself as much proper alone time as I want - phones, social media and the expectation that you should be contactable at all times being the downfall. But when I do...
In my alone time, I love to sit on my laptop in my bed and write/read blogposts, just see where the internet takes me, do some research, explore links, watch lots of youtube.
I love to sit and read a book. Maybe watch some TV or a movie while doing odd jobs and organising things. I love, love, love to sit or lie down and listen to some music, either while doing something else or just being fully present.
Do you guys give yourself alone time? Do you sometimes feel guilty for doing it?
Do you enjoy it? What do you like to do in your alone time?
New blog post will be up next Tuesday!!!
Do you enjoy it? What do you like to do in your alone time?
New blog post will be up next Tuesday!!!
Until then, you can: Follow my blog with Bloglovin
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They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)
❤️, Raashi
