If there are two things I love, it’s being alone, and being around friends and family. This may seem contradictory in nature, but it is a factual statement none-the-less. I love having time for my thoughts and creativity, time to process complexities, and I love talking with friends, sharing with them, and having a good laugh.

Even during long bouts of my being alone, I am seldom lonely because my mind is occupied and I simply enjoy my own company. With others around me, my attention shifts toward enjoying time spent with those I care about, but my time of recharge, reflection, and introspection is ultimately important as well. This is important to me because I am important to me, yet I have other individuals who are also very important to me.

This requires balance, a delicate dance of maintaining myself while also maintaining the relationships that are meaningful to me. While this might seem simple enough, how often do we think of a loved one we haven’t talked to in a while, or find ourselves burning out from all of the interaction and just want to lie in bed alone all weekend? This is never easy, but it must be worked at or we lose ourselves and go through life without direction or a compass. 

I love myself, but I also love others and want the best for everyone, this is why I struggle to maintain the delicate scales of balance, but I do it. I’m not always successful at reaching out to everyone in my life, I have a lot of friends and some family and sometimes I’m surrounded by people for days, but I try. Those I love know it, I tell them, I show them, I do the same for myself.

I delight in solitude, but love the company of friends n family also, this may seem contradictory, but I reconcile it as more so the balance of time spent in life. Delight in solitude, but love the company is a motto that I live by and while it’s difficult at times, it truly makes life more enjoyable.