Anybody almost entirely alone on purpose?

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I'm trying this myself and would like to know how it's going for you. I've tried it before but chickened out, or came to my senses, whichever you prefer. Sometimes I've been ecstatically happy to have almost all of my time to pursue my own interests. Other times, I wonder if I'm making an enormous mistake; I've read the results of research that suggests I am. {One problem with taking all those studies as fact: they didn't study ME.}

What I'm talking about: You live alone; you can go days without communicating with anyone, and then it's usually a store clerk or bank teller, or a few sentences exchanged with a neighbor you see when you're outside; these interactions are largely because you don't want to appear weird. (Careful about revealing this if any baddies on the internet can figure out where you live and if they did, you'd be at risk. As for me, I have neighbors all around, and people here watch out for each other. I'm known for not having m/any visitors.)

So, if you live a reclusive life--how is it for you? If it's not perfect, is it better than life with people around?

(For those who might think I'm doing a terrible thing... No one depends on me except possibly my diagnosed HFA son. I'm not planning to end our relationship, whatever it is. He's not very communicative and mostly just sends me photos. I comment on them and send some back. Maybe that's all he wants or needs. He ignores questions about his well-being.)

tts

It is calm and without any stress. I wish i was a millionaire so i could move to my own property far away from other humans and grow vegetables and stuff.

I second the above post. My sole contact with other human beings, for the most part, is drinking alone in coffee shops several days in the week. I'd love to buy a log cabin in the middle of a hundred acres of farmland and live the true solitary life. This would be heaven for me; one cannot be alone enough.

I love the company of dogs, though.

I have tried for a long period to live nearly completely alone, and limit relationships to the minimum necessary.

I felt better for a time because I did not suffer that stress anymore like when i was forcing myself to communicate, also, I was having then more time for myself and for my own interests. I was happy.

But life, work and hobbies sometimes makes communication suddenly extremely important and necessary.

The problem is that if you have stopped "training" for a period, there is a risk you loose your ability. After a long period alone, my ability to communicate had fallen dramatically. I came from "making some social mistakes" to "not being able to articulate a proper sentence". It was alarming and then I started to make efforts to communicate again. I had a hard time to come back to my previous communication level. Now, I wouldn't isolate completely again (at least not for more than one day), even if it is difficult sometimes, I tell to myself, it is my daily training, and I improve .

Yeah , the studies show that people in solitary confinement go crazy.

I am of the opinion that if I was the last person on Earth I would be fine and not suffer as a consequence.

Thank you for the replies.

I also read about the results of solitary confinement. That's something done to a person, probably usually unwanted. It might be different if the person chose it... and is free to ramble around in nature, take on whatever projects are interesting, and have casual conversations when wanted. Or maybe not.

The one that bothers me more is dementia risk, which has been shown to increase with isolation. I'm thinking social interaction is somewhat protective because people kind of force you to think a lot. Even the simplest conversation, with an acquaintance, involves something like: okay what's his name what's his wife's name his children where does he live what are the big issues in his life right now... followed by: what's the right thing to say is that a happy smile or a grimace did i brush my hair recently oh gosh do i have food on my face am i interrupting too much would he be interested in my opinion on that does he want to get away how long can i talk before i miss (appointment, getting home before rush hour, the dog's next medicine, whatever) how do i politely end this conversation or am i supposed to let him do it oh darn what did he just ask me.. and so on.

For anyone still interested in the topic: To compensate, I'm reading a lot, playing games that require thought or quickness, keeping a journal of all my activities and being sure to fill a page every day, trying to fit in something I've never done before on most days, driving somewhere most days (I call it playing bumper cars), playing the piano or studying Spanish or learning new dance steps most days, exercising almost every day...

If I can keep that up, will it be enough? I'm going to find out, unless I chicken out again. Spending the rest of my life trying to conform, listening to complaints, and listening to people go on about everybody they know for hours out of the week, is a lot less appealing than having this adventure.

Conversational skills.. interesting point. Talking to oneself might be somewhat helpful. Heck, you could even argue with yourself. Ask yourself why you do things the way you do and then try to justify it. Give yourself unsolicited advice about things that are already working just fine, and try to find a nice way to explain why you won't be changing things. But more seriously, maybe solitary people should work in a casual conversation from time to time. People you just met are less likely to be unpleasant than the ones who know you well enough to be rude or bossy or to talk for an hour about things you're not interested in or try to shame into staying and listening longer.

I'd be interested in more of people's thoughts and experiences. (Hmm, is this cheating?) Those of you already living this way, how long have you been doing it? For me it'll be 3 months on the 26th.

The thing with solitary confinement is you're in a little room 24/7 for weeks/months with absolutely nothing to do.

For those people who stay in their rooms all day, or only frequent coffee shops, or whatever:

Do you work? Do your parents pay your way? Are you well-off? Do you receive benefits that you're able to live off of?

How do you people not have to work yet not end up homeless? I'd love to be alone all day, but I've got to suck it up and deal with co-workers.

I used to isolate myself when I was younger. I would only go to this certain coffee shop.

I did work, though.

The only people I interact with physically (not internet) most fortnights are my stepdaughter ,granddaughters, cleaner and the person who does my depot injection.

I rarely go out. When I do it's to sit by myself in a nearby cafe that sells mediocre food or to go grocery shopping. Sometimes I go out for lunch with my stepfamily.

We had our Christmas dinner at noon today (Christmas Eve).

The food was okay. There were about 21 people, so I took mine out in the backyard and ate it. It was much more peaceful but the food got cold much too fast.

I ate too much. I filled the plate like a 20 year old but have the appetite of a 60 year old.

If I hadn't been expected to show up, I would have happily skipped it.

For most of my life I had to live with other people, but kept wanting--and needing to live alone. Finally managed to live alone almost 14 years ago. For me, living alone is definitely better than living with other people. As for those studies, the people they studied who lived alone probably didn't want to be alone, but for various reasons were in that situation, so of course they were unhappy. If you like living alone, being alone won't make you unhappy, but if you don't like living alone, you will be unhappy in that situation. These studies are not valid unless they take into account whether you like being alone, or don't like being alone. Most people prefer being with others, and can't comprehend that some people actually like being alone, so they mistakenly assume that everyone living alone is unhappy about it. I have this problem with relatives thinking that I must be unhappy because I live alone, but I prefer being alone. It's spending time with other people that tends to make me unhappy.

Yeah, basically. I don't seem to meet anyone's standards.

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