22 May 2020

A few years ago, someone somewhere in the same location as me, quoted someone else who said “I’m not alone, I have me”.  It was significant enough for me that I made a note of it in the ‘notes’ part of my phone.  At the time it was important that I remember this, as I had a mother in retirement living having to give up her driving license and hence had a reduced capacity to connect with her friends, and my youngest son was in a relationship that caused his self esteem to plummet.

Anyway – I saved the phrase, and probably tried to influence both of my intended victims with it, to limited effect. It stayed in storage on my phone as a reminder to me, however.

But it came up in conversation today with a friend, while we were enjoying BREAKFAST AND COFFEE IN A CAFE!!! Truly something to celebrate, and we very much enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect after three months of limited contact.

But back to the phrase. Are you happy being with YOU? It’s probably timely to ask, as most of us have been restricted in movement and ability to connect with friends and family, and are either realising that ourselves are ok to hang out with, or that ourselves are a bit of hard work and we really need others to make ourselves feel good.

I’ve spoken with divorced people, bereaved people, and depressed people – and the topic frequently arises about how comfortable they are (or aren’t) in spending time with themselves.

I’ve discovered through the physical distancing that I’m happy with myself (I think I’m a secretly introverted extrovert). But I do find I need to express myself somehow – whether it’s talking to my dog, writing stuff on Facebook, or singing (badly) along to my chosen playlist of the day, these things are a part of me. (I will hopefully one day be a batty little old lady in a nursing home somewhere, talking to her pot plants.)

Do you count yourself as your best friend?

How do you get along with you?