Gallia wrote:
I often complain that I'm lonely and haven't got many friends but lately I am realising how lucky it is to have the opportunity to be alone!
If you think about it, solitude is becoming more and more difficult to achieve as our daily lives become more connected and cluttered in more densely populated geographical spaces (most people live in urban settings), internet and social media. basically our mental and physical world is more connected than ever but connection doesnt always entail something positive or healthy.
Solitude is a privilege but I don't think living in an urban area makes any difference. You can get your own house or apartment no matter if you live in the city, the suburbs or the country. Once I'm in that space I'm alone, no matter if my neighbors are ten feet away or ten miles away.
I actually like cocooning myself in an apartment building. I feel protected from the outside world by a wall of other apartments and by my distance from ground level. In a perfect world I could have a windowless apartment right in the middle of the building.
Solitude is a privilege but the factor limiting solitude is how busy you are, not how far you live from other people. If you have to work long hours with other people, then you're not alone, even if you're doing it in the country. If you have the privilege of a hours not working in the evening or weekend, then you can be alone, even if you live in the city.
For me, free time is alone time. Some people can work 12 hours per day but I can't because that would mean 12 hours of being with other people (plus commute time). Free time is also a privilege that not everyone has.
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The days are long, but the years are short