There is nothing I love more than sitting at home alone on a rainy day, coffee in hand, reading a book, listening to music, or writing. For a lot of people this kind of day would be considered dreary or boring, and I get why they would feel that way. But for me, the freedom I get from spending time alone is one of the best feelings in the world.
If you are an introvert, living in today’s fast-paced society can be mentally exhausting. You may frequently wonder what is wrong with you, asking yourself things like, “Why don’t I like doing what everyone else likes doing? Why don’t I want to go out and party every weekend?” It is easy to feel out of place in this world when you are an introvert because our society more often than not encourages extrovert behavior. If you are anything different than that, you’re often labeled weird, rude, or anti-social.
Fortunately you are not the only one who feels the way you do, and there is nothing wrong with you! Being introverted doesn’t make you weird, awkward or anti-social. You don’t have to have social anxiety or even be shy to be introverted. Being introverted simply means you need more time alone than others to recharge in order to function at your best.
Once I finally began embracing my introvertism, I discovered that there are actually tremendous benefits in making time to be alone, which is why I’ve created a list of three reasons why solitude is beneficial for introverts.
- Solitude is a great opportunity for improving your mental health and practicing self-care. Every time I use my alone time wisely (meaning I don’t spend hours on my phone aimlessly scrolling through Instagram!) I am able to do things that make me feel better, both mentally and physically. When I am alone I can freely exercise, meditate, listen to a podcast, take a bubble bath, practice yoga, read, write, or listen to music without any interruption. All of these activities help me clear my mind and relieve stress, and through taking the time to care for my well-being, I have learned how to analyze and reflect on any negative thoughts that enter my mind and then replace them with positive, uplifting truth. Since consistently taking the time for self-care in solitude, I have adopted a totally new and much healthier mindset that wouldn’t have been possible without my time spent alone learning during self-care.
- Solitude gives you the time and space to create your art and be creative in your work. Your work shouldn’t feel like work; your work should be your art, and I don’t necessarily mean art as in drawing or painting, unless that is your thing! I mean art as in whatever you love to do. For me, it’s writing. Whenever I am alone my mind tends to wander, and I often get my most creative ideas during this time. My daydreams become ideas that I use in the stories I write. When I am with other people it is very hard for me to be creative and focus on my work. The stimulation from people talking or the TV blaring in the background is not a conducive work environment for me. However when I am alone, I am able to take create a calm, quiet environment that allows me to concentrate and get more work done while still making the work enjoyable. Many times I don’t know how I truly feel about something or what to do about a situation until I start writing about it. Being able to put my thoughts in writing allows my mind to make sense of all the ideas bouncing around in my head.
- Solitude allows you to get to know yourself. When I finally grew too tired to fake being friends with the people in my life who I was just friends with for the sake of having friends, it left me with quite a bit of free time. In this time away from those people who had a large influence on what I did on a daily basis, I was able to start over. I got to know myself. I rediscovered who I was, what I liked to do, what I wanted out of life and who I wanted to be. The new things I found myself doing I never would have done before because it wasn’t considered ‘fun’ or ‘normal’ to my so-called friends. However, I’d decided that I’d much rather be alone than settle for a ‘normal’ life. In this process I learned to love myself, which unexpectedly was also the cure for my anxiety disorder. Yes I was lonely at times, and I sometimes doubted my decision to end these friendships, but it ended up being one of the best choices I’ve ever made. I discovered that I am my own home and I already have everything within me that I’ll ever need. I no longer need outside validation from anyone or anything, and that has been the most freeing experience I’ve ever had.
Contrary to the belief of many in today’s society, there are extremely positive advantages that can be gained through spending time alone. Although sometimes working and/or being in a loud, largely populated area is unavoidable, and it definitely isn’t healthy for us introverts to completely isolate ourselves from others, we don’t need to feel guilty for taking some time to be alone every so often. So please don’t be ashamed of your introverted ways! They make you, you. 🙂
What are some benefits you have seen in your own life from spending time alone or being an introvert? I’d love to hear from you! As always, keep checking the blog for new posts.<3
Reblogged this on Dream Big, Dream Often.
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Thanks so much!
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You are welcome!
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This is an amazing and relatable piece for me. I am 100% introvert and being in my own solitude is where I am at my best. Thank you for sharing this with the world.
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I know how you feel! Thanks for checking out my blog!
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You’re welcome. It’s a great blog.
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I HAVE to spend time alone. And a lot of it. I’ve learned that I can’t or don’t enjoy superficial things. Being in solitude allows me to ponder. Which I desperately need to do. I also take in lots of energy. I need time to process it. Plus, I just need to be away from places that are over stimulating for me. It’s luxurious, fun, and wonderful. It’s so cold currently (where I live) that I am pulling all the solutide time I can. Bears call it hibernation! ;>
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“90% Lana Del Rey, 10% other artists” haha, you have a good taste in music ❤️
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Great post, thanks for sharing. It still frustrates and exhausts me immensely to try and justify why I desperately need time alone and why doing so does not make me sad and lonely. In fact, it does quite the opposite for me. Solitude is my happy place – and as you, it gives me space and time to reflect, create, unwind and just escape the chaos that the “outside” world creates. I feel safe, too. It also allows me to discover and focus on becoming who I ultimately WANT to be (not who I should be or what is expected of me). That is liberating.
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I know how you feel. But what I’ve learned is that I no longer have to justify my wanting to spend some time alone. If someone doesn’t like it – oh well! I no longer sacrifice my mental health to please others. It’s awesome that you are choosing to focus on who you want to be, instead of who others want you to be. I agree that there is great freedom to be found in doing that. Thanks for checking out my blog!
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I’m still working on that certainty of not giving a damn. I’m glad to know that it is in fact possible 😉 But, you’re right, it really is a BIG sacrifice (and SO hard to get back on track once you’ve sacrificed too much). When you actually start looking at it in that context I believe it will get easier to just take the time without any guilt/justification.
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Absolutely! I definitely think you are on the right track 🙂
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Reblogged this on Hopes and Dreams: My Writing and My Sons and commented:
For creative people, solitude is essential. Here are some excellent and inspiring thoughts on the nurturing power of solitude. Thank you, Kara!
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Thanks for sharing!!
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Hello, Kara! So nice to meet you. I very much enjoyed this post. Thank you for following my blog!
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Thank you! 🙂
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Good work. This post may speak to introverts but even extroverts like me should learn to benefit from solitude. People often think we love to be surrounded by others and activities all the time. According to the Meyers-Briggs Temperament we gain energy from external world through our connections. But the truth is we also need to unplug from it all and chill out. It is a big challenge extroverts face. But it must be done before it is to late. I’ve learned over the years to create times for myself as it is a must to recharge my batteries, reconnect with myself and nurture my soul. Extroverts should learn to do this because leading the parade all the time has consequences. What goes up always comes down. Without time for oneself an extrovert will most certainly risk to face a crash landing! Inspiring piece, Kara. I enjoyed reading you.
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You’re absolutely right! I do believe that everyone, regardless of being introverted or extroverted, can benefit and learn from time spent in solitude. Thank you so much for your kind words and checking out my post! 🙂
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My pleasure, Kara. Can’t wait to read more of you. 💞
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