I appreciate the only time more than I get older. I love solo dates.

• When I was younger, I was afraid of being alone.
• I felt like I was alone meant that I was alone and that there was something that was wrong with me.
• As I get older, I grew up to appreciate my time alone and cherish my own business.

It recently appeared that the more I get older, the more I like Spend time alone. I regularly go under solo hikes or in movies, and I cherish time by myself.

When I was younger, I had a very different perception of running solo. I used to think that being alone besieged to be alone, but I was so wrong.

In high school, I fought with friendships and I sometimes felt like a failure or a monster because I really had only one close friend. Of course, there were children who were friendly with me, but I never felt a deep link with them. Consequently, I am often I felt socially isolated.

When my best friend was out of school for the sick day or we were fighting, I remember hiding in the library at lunchtime, feeling alone and drifting in the world. Even after having made a large group of friends at the university, if I had to eat by myself in college or walk in class by myself, I would feel aware of oneself and as a quirk.

My feelings of being alone have changed as they get older

I don’t know why, but as I get older, I found it easier to make friends. Travel in their twenties I certainly helped – it forced me to get out of my comfort zone and meet people from all walks of life. Having children also helped me attract people sharing the same ideas in my life – other women who were trying to navigate parenthood.

Nowadays, at 39, I’m lucky to have a really Solid network of friendsTo the point where I sometimes feel guilty for not being able to give them enough time and energy. Add three children, a husband, a busy business and aging parents, and life often looks like a giant balance.

Sometimes I feel aspired at this time alone that I redoubled so much. I get tired of all the noise and I just want a little calm.

I started Embrace the beauty of being aloneEven in a public context, without fear of judgment of others or feel uncomfortable. When I have a few hours delicious for me, I have breakfast and I sit very silent at the table, reading a leisure newspaper. On other occasions, if I have the impression that my energy is exhausted, I will enter the hills surrounding our small Alpine town, taking advantage of the sounds of the birds above and the valley below.

I learned to love loneliness and silence

I finally realized that silence is a gift and that my favorite business is actually myself. Although I really like my family and friends, I really need my own space to recharge and feel refreshed, and there is nothing wrong with that. Loneliness is healthyAnd it’s fun.

Recently, I went to the cinema to see a beautiful documentary. It was a man who traveled along the West Coast of America On a motorcycle and the people he met along the way. The end was very poignant, and I found myself crying while the credits took place.

Besides me, a young woman was sitting sobbing on her chair. I had noticed that she came alone, like me, and that she was as touched by the film as me. There was something in her that reminded me of a previous version of myself.

Without thinking, I stretched out and tapped hers, and slowly, she stopped crying. “It was a great film, right?” I said. She smiles and nodded, then I left.

For me, being alone gives me time to treat my thoughts, draw from my creativity and grow up. It helps me to regulate my emotions and feel in peace. And sometimes loneliness can make me more open to spontaneous moments of connection with others, like that of cinema.