The glory of Solitude

Solitude is one of my favourite words. Not for the sound as it's not exactly the most pleasant, but because of its meaning. I am a very independent person and although I cannot imagine a life without my friends and family, and I couldn't ask for better company, I love being by myself. Embracing the glory of solitude to its full capability. There is such a freedom that comes as a side effect to solitude. The freedom to be able to think deeply about life; or the freedom to just lay in the grass and watch the clouds pass overhead with the sun warming the ground around you hearing no sound but your own thoughts. There's a well known saying that being alone is not the same as being lonely and I couldn't agree more. Being by yourself does not make you any less of a person, embracing the company of yourself is one of the strongest things you can do because it means you are accepting yourself for who you are. You aren't trying to change drastically to create better perceptions of yourself but its a gradual process of beginning to love yourself. I think being on your own, truly on your own, can you only then really get to know the real you. You delve into thoughts you never knew existed, figure out skills and a creativity you never knew you had and can gradually become more confident in your own skin, gaining more confidence in your own decisions.


This is one of the main reasons I am going traveling on my own. I feel like it's a necessity for me to begin to get to know myself better and I really feel that I can only do that through solitude while doing one of the things I love to do: travel. I yearn to be in places I've never been, to gaze in awe at the most beautiful sights. I will have the freedom to ride my bike as far as I want to go, eat whatever I want whenever I want, go walking in woodland and look at the wildlife or get up at a ridiculous time in the morning just to watch the sunrise above a mountain top. Most of you are probably thinking but you could do all of that with someone else... and you're right, but to me there's just something about being alone that I can't describe. I just think that it is so wonderful to enjoy your own company.

Of course this doesn't apply all of the time. I love being alone, granted, but I don't like being lonely. Loneliness is the grievance of Solitude, it's evil twin but I do believe that there's a choice. You have the freedom to choose whether to dwell on the negatives of being alone or to embrace it. Sometimes that's a really tough battle and occasionally loneliness will win but it's particularly in these times, when loneliness is overwhelming, that I find friends to be the best medicine.

I'm also not one of these women who need a man in their life to be happy. I personally think that true happiness comes from a fundamental love for yourself. Yep it's that cheesy saying isn't it, you have to love yourself before someone can love you. It's not completely true of course but I think the general message of it is particularly important. You have to have an ounce of self love, respect and appreciation for you to truly believe that you deserve the love you receive. I'm the kind of person who pushes people away because I guess I'm a bit of an all or nothing girl, but lately I've realised it's my insecurities that hold me back. My lack of belief that I deserve true happiness and true love. Because of that I have realised I need to embrace my solitude, figure out who I am. So I'm going travelling with just me, myself and I and I intend to truly make the most of it.