Alone, Never Lonely

I was sick yesterday, and stayed home from work. Although I didn't feel great physically, the day was mentally fantastic—between school and the fact that my boyfriend and I have the same work schedule, I am almost never by myself at home. Yesterday, it was just the cats and me, and it was bliss. 

Sometimes it seems like people either hate being alone or feel like they need to justify their desire for solitude. While I was scrolling through Facebook between naps yesterday, I noticed that one of my acquaintances had posted a Huffington Post piece called "The Stigma of Doing Things Alone." As it happens, I love to travel alone, eat out alone, go to the movies alone, and generally be alone. This is probably why I also like to blog about playing games... alone. (Well, a lot of the time.) I even wake up early because I love the quiet hours of the morning when no one is awake but me. 

One of the things that concerns me most about my students is how much they hate solitude. Even when they are not talking (a rare occasion), they are determined to listen to music and to stay in constant contact with each other through Snapchat, Instagram, and Kik. But if you're always listening to someone else's voice, how do you ever hear your own? How do you tap your inner creativity or decide what kind of person you really are if you are never alone with your thoughts? Can you really be a complete person if you don't have the internal resources to entertain yourself for a while with no outside stimulation? 

I love board games in general, but solo games bring their own special joy. Have you ever read a book and enjoyed it so much that you didn't want to talk about it with anyone else? Sometimes, when I play alone, it feels like a game was made just for me, every twist and turn a secret for me to savor.

Gaming alone isn't just something I do because no one else is around to play with me. It's something I carve out time to do because I like it. 

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