Este texto surge luego de la lectura del post de nuestro amigo @emiliorios, titulado: Disfrutando de la mejor compañía: ¡Yo mismo! -Por qué y cómo ser tu mejor motivo. Si quieres leerlo, aquí te dejo el enlace del post

Imágenes gratuitas de Pixabay y texto traducido con Deepl

Gracias por leer y comentar, amigo mío. Saludos.

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Versión en inglés

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_{Image created by me in Canva}

Embracing solitude

I have never gone to the movies alone, nor have I gone to a restaurant or a bar alone. I have never traveled alone, and therefore I have never stayed in a hotel room alone, in a city that is not my own, lying in a strange bed. Even when I was doing my master's degree in literature in a city three hours away from my hometown, I never traveled alone. I usually traveled with classmates who, like me, were doing their master's degrees, and when they couldn't travel, my boyfriend was more than happy to accompany me on the trip.

And although I've been surrounded by people my whole life, I know how rewarding and productive solitude can be. It is not a state that I fear or run away from; I know it, it has shown me its sharp teeth, but it has also embraced me and given me the peace I desire, it has helped me grow, to be more myself. Because personally, I prefer to be without another person than to be in company and still feel the coldness of loneliness.

_Pixabay

Just recently, at @holos-lotus, we were talking about how unwanted loneliness has become an epidemic in this century and how, in some cases, loneliness is synonymous with rejection, depression, and isolation. Its negative connotations, both old and new, have reinforced the tragic view of loneliness. “Get married and have children so you don't end up old and alone,” my grandmother advised me, as if being old and alone were the worst of all combinations, of all tragedies, even worse than a bad marriage with children.

But thank God, today, the population, especially women, has been able to challenge the conventions that portray loneliness as a failure and has managed to counter the idea of loneliness as an enriching, intimate state that can help human beings to listen to themselves, value themselves, and grow. In other words, loneliness is not a barren state, but a fertile state in a more conscious life.

_Pixabay

As an adult woman, I can't help but wonder if loneliness carries the same weight for men and women in the 21st century. In a society where marriage was the formula for guaranteeing a home, financial security, and respect for women, and where it was even believed that being single was almost a disgrace, I wonder how much of those thoughts and obsolete ideas still echo today, and how many toxic relationships are maintained because of those external judgments.

Personally, I like to read with no one around me, and I also prefer to grade exams alone. When I cook, I prefer to do it without anyone else around, choosing the ingredients, chopping them, smelling them, without feeling like there are people buzzing around me like flies. I experience every creative process, painting, writing, more intensely when I am alone. In that state, I allow myself to cry, laugh, stay still, be crazy without anyone asking me questions, questioning me, or giving their opinion.

_Pixabay

It's not surprising that people who don't know me ask me why I'm not married or why I don't live with my boyfriend. They're surprised when I tell them that I like being alone, that everything I am and have belongs to me, that I don't need a partner to be happy or to do things, that I am a self-sufficient woman: I pay my own way and give myself change.

And once you know that power, that state, there's no turning back, and maybe that's why there are more single women today than before, widows, divorcees, or unmarried women, without fear, happy, because they know that it's better to be alone than in bad company, and that those who don't help are a hindrance. I'm sorry, Grandma, I didn't follow your advice, but I'm happy.

Free images from Pixabay and text translated with Deepl

Thank you for reading and commenting, my friend. Best regards.