I’ve never understood people who want to be alone. Although I’m an introvert, I’ve spent my entire life trying not to be alone. Growing up as an only child in a family with two working parents which moved a lot, I spent a significant amount of time alone. As a kid, I coped by playing with Legos, retreating into a world where I could have “people” around me all the time. As I got older, I always tried to spend most of my time with friends, to minimize time alone. Even though I don’t like large groups and have never had a huge group of friends, I’ll work hard to hang out with people. Yet, nevertheless, circumstances have often meant I’ve had to spend time alone. Indeed, I seem to have a strange curse where I try to organize small get-togethers or parties and end up with only one or no guests. Looking back, I think a series of birthdays with no other children as a child might be the reason I’ve grown up disliking and ignoring birthdays. The previous two years were particularly bad, when I could spend an entire week without any meaningful human interaction. Wanting to be alone seems a strange desire.
Recent events in my life have made me realize I need to learn how to deal with being alone. An introvert who has to learn to like himself and like being alone–strange, no? How does one do that?
This is one way I do not wish to follow Kierkegaard…
Fencing with Kierkegaard 