Being Alone

Elly LononOther Randomness, The Book & Other Seriousness, , , , , 25 Comments

You know how sometimes you stumble upon something that just bangs your heart like a gong and your whole body shakes with the ringing of it’s truth?  That happened to me this morning.  I saw this video, this beautiful poignant video that makes me pause and think – two things I don’t do very often.

Sometimes a gal – ok THIS gal – needs to stop and spend a little quality bonding time with my closest confidant: me.  Not that I would trade any of my wild and crazy gallivanting with the Glitter Gang Bangers nor the bevy of bridal ballyhoo that has and will continue to fill my August.  Sometimes I just have to let go and revel in the madness…and the copious quantities of alcohol…and ignore that quiet nagging in the back recesses of my mind that chants in a sing-song voice, “You’re forgetting something.”

But it’s nice to remember there’s a reason I start to feel a little off, a little disjointed, a little sentimental.  I miss someone.  Me.

And I know that isn’t exactly the point of the poem, but it serves as a reminder to me of how much I genuinely enjoy being alone.  Regardless, I think it’s beautiful.  So here you go.

Thanks for the link, Tara.

Comments

  1. I miss you already. I am not surprised you miss yourself too. 🙂

    This video/poem is so simple yet so powerful I still have goose bumps after I saw it this morning. And I just want to make sure everybody I know see it!

  2. When I was younger I used to freeze up in horror at the thought of being alone. I guess that’s why I’m perpetually flanked by an army of disgruntled underpaid minions. No wait, that’s not me.
    I like alone if it means no one is hanging on my leg while I pee.

    1. You said you didn’t mind! I have a host of witnesses from the Bryant Park bathroom that heard you say it was cool if I wanted to hang on. The hell.

  3. Wow, that is quite beautiful. And true. And as someone who enjoys being alone and spends a lot of time that way, I appreciate it. I don’t mind my own company most of the time. When I’m alone I paint, I play my guitar, I write my stupid blog, I watch movies. Most of my friends are far away. I learned to be self reliant for a lot of things and have no problem at all going to a movie alone or a restaurant if I have to. I’ve always been somewhat a loner. And it’s really ok!

    This comment is very un-me. I will end it by saying, “sweaty testicles!” There. Balance is restored.

    1. Since we’re being all uncharacteristic, etc. Don’t you think it’s bullshit that there’s so much pressure to not be ok with being alone? I mean, if you tell someone, “No thanks, I really just want to be alone tonight,” people give you the squishy doe-eyed, isn’t-she-tragic look. A bottle of wine, Herbert, a fist full of brushes – what more could a gal need?

      Well that and that handful of vibrators I scored at BlogHer.

      1. Booze, ukes, paint and vibrators, I think you got all of life’s problems ironed out right there. And your spare time is filled pretty much like mine. 🙂 Damn, now my uke needs a cool name. I’d call it “Carlos” but I’m reserving that for a cat. I think a cat named “Carlos” would be kick ass. Carlos or Vladimir.

        I’d like to call my uke Herve Villechaize. I doubt you have to ask why.

  5. I love that. Will have to pinch and share. I’m one of those people who has always liked their own company. I’ve never really felt the need to be surrounded by people all the time and love the silence of just being with myself. Pre-sick I would hop on the train and go into the city and wander by myself, go to galleries, movies, parks and loved the freedom involved. Even now I love to go to a nice cafe and have coffee and cake (or port, it is Winter after all), read a book, or just sit. Silence is golden and there’s a weird kind of peace being by yourself. God damn that got all serious and shit, I feel kinda dirty.

  6. You know, that’s just not fair to do to me.

    Alone is where I am most comfortable. It takes so much for me to walk into a room FULL of people and then you have the ability to melt my walls.

    AGAIN!

    Toddling off to read @SubWoW’s and probably annoy my husband by being all weepy and shit!

    1. You shouldn’t be, you know. If I were you I would totally spend time with you. That sentence made no sense. But I, for one, know exactly what I mean.

  7. as much as i love having my senses fed, i get sensory overload. i need to go back to my quiet place and let it all wash over me. then i like to pop back out, all recharged and ready to launch so i get being alone.

    and as far as this video, i’m writing the same thing to you as i did to subwow (because i really love you both): i always have my doubts, but now i have you and that makes me smile and feel less afraid of myself and my quiet moments, shame and paranoia.

    1. I would think you’d be really good at being alone. You have an inner peace about you that’s very calming. Or maybe that’s just in comparison to my inner me screaming while humping a cardboard cut out of President Obama. But seriously, work it girl. You rule.

  9. I can’t watch this right now, but I will. I’d kill for some alone time right now … or even some time with people I’ve known longer than a week.

  11. Wow. I’m so rarely “alone” because of my kids that sometimes when I am, I’m a little lost about it all. When they are with their dad, I immediately lapse into “lonliness.” It’s as if I’ve forgotten that being alone doesn’t have to mean being lonely. Thanks for the reminder.

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