At first, being alone might feel great, as you don’t have to deal with any small talk or other people’s schedules. Yet a few days is all it takes for the weird stuff to start creeping in. Here are fourteen things that you’ll likely only realize about yourself after being alone too long, rightly or wrongly.
What do you do when you’re alone for a bit?
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock.
You forgot how loud your real voice was
Saying one word out loud, just one, sounds like someone shouting through a megaphone, and it’s enough to make you wonder if your neighbors heard. That’s when it hits you. Not talking for days means that your own voice surprises your own ears. Worse still, your laughter is probably a lot squeakier than you ever remember it being.
You have no eating schedule
Being by yourself for a long time means that your eating schedule goes out the window completely. You might have “lunch” at 4 PM, and then suddenly start craving frozen waffles at 1:30 AM. Either way, eating times become less strict. You simply start eating whenever you feel like it, rather than following a certain time.
You copy people a lot
It’s not until you’re alone that you realize that you imitate others a lot more than you’d care to admit. Whether it’s copying an old coworker’s catchphrase or a friend’s sigh, you’re not that original. Almost everything you say or do comes from someone else. Just who are you, really?
You don’t know how to comfort yourself
After something bad happens and nobody’s around to comfort you, you’re left to fend for yourself. But you’re not sure of what to do. Usually, you’d vent to someone about your problem. Left to your own devices, you realize that you have no plan for making yourself feel better.
You need validation
You always told yourself that you don’t need applause or recognition. But when you’re alone, you understand that that’s just not true. Honestly, you miss having someone congratulate you on a job well done or laughing at a joke that you made. A little praise wouldn’t hurt. It’d certainly make your achievements feel worth it.
You’re more anxious than you let on
Even though you claim to be relaxed & unbothered, 72 hours alone taught you how worried you really are. A strange sound at home is enough to send you into a meltdown, while a person walking past makes you feel anxious. That calm personality that you pretended to have was just that. A pretense.
You need social plans to have a schedule
Sure, those brunches & coffee meetups were fun, but they were also so much more than that. They were the glue that helped to give your life a sense of shape. Not having them makes your days blend together. After all, you don’t have any idea of what’s happening next, as you no longer have anything to look forward to. What day is it again?
You rehearse conversations in your head
Beyond the deep conversations, you rehearse even simple interactions in your head. These could include what you’ll say to the store clerk the next time you go in. Most people just turn up and say what they’re going to say, but since you’ve been alone too long, your brain feels like it needs to plan everything out.
You give up on many things
This time by yourself helps you understand how much you give up on things without actually seeing them through. Your DIY projects are half-done, while that new book is still sitting on the shelf, untouched. Rather than simply being lazy, you simply forget or stall. You need some peer pressure to force you to complete them.
You pretend to be busy
Sometimes, you’ll get up and walk quickly across your apartment, even though you don’t actually need anything. Why did you do it? It’s simply because you feel like you need to look busy when you’re not, and that doesn’t change when you’re alone. Slowing down makes the silence seem extra loud.
You’re not that decisive
Pick a show or pick a snack. It should be easy, but it’s not, because the truth is that you always liked having someone to give the final stamp of approval on what to do. Being alone makes you realize that you need that added input to get anything done. Without it, you’re left in decision fatigue.
You’re quite self-critical
Time alone sounds like it should be peaceful, yet this is the time when most people start criticizing themselves the most. You begin thinking about the things you brushed off when you were with other people. It’s just you & the voice in your head. And that voice doesn’t always have particularly nice things to say about you.
Your self-image depends on being seen
As you walk around your place, it hits you that nobody’s looking at you. Not necessarily in a metaphorical way, but a literal one, where nobody’s watching your expressions or noticing how you carry yourself. You need to be seen. Without those reactions, it’s hard to understand who you are in yourself.
You don’t know how you feel about many things
A lot of the opinions you have are actually other people’s opinions. Do you really care about that TV show that everyone was obsessed with, and do you really hate that food? Being alone means there’s nobody else for you to bounce your ideas off of. As such, you begin to realize that you’re a lot more on the fence about things.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
Like our content? Be sure to follow us.
