Alone together

I saw a teenage girl swinging at the park yesterday.  She had some ear buds in, and was just swinging.  All by herself.  Alone. Swinging. Not a little girl.  A teenager.

I was impressed. And surprised. Kind of disturbed. Sort of confused. A little bit in awe.

She was alone.

Now, I love being all by myself, 

as long as I have someone with me. 

Here are some of the things I like to do alone.

1)I like to write alone, with someone on a bench reading or writing, too. 

2)I like to study alone, in a library full of people. 

3)I like to cook alone, with Ian.

4) I like to go to the loo alone, but I would rather there was a pilot co-pilot situation, or even a pilot bombardier.

Everything is better with a friend.

Truth is, I don’t really ever want to be alone. Extroverts get their energy from being with people; that's me.  I can leave the house exhausted, go hang with people for a few hours, and come home with a rejuvenation that will keep me awake for hours. 


My favorite Disney villian extrovert is Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.  The man doesn't even propose to Belle by himself.  After he is rejected, he broods with all of his man friends (and lovely blonde triplets). When he attempts to kill The Beast he gathers a mob.  I get you, Gaston.  It is just better to be evil with people.  

I am married to an introvert. I am not saying one is better than the other.  Clearly, as in the case of Gaston, extroverts can use their desire for socialization for evil. Compassion for introversion is one of the things that makes me a kind extrovert.

Ian comes home and he needs some alone time. He gets his energy filled up by being by himself.  Being with people drains his precious life juices.  When he comes home, after being at work with people all day, he likes to read the news by himself. As a supportive wife, I understand that. That is fine. I get it. So I let him be alone. I just want to be with him while he is alone reading the news.  I want to talk to him while he is alone reading the news.  I want to tell him jokes about the news. 

Ian is in the bubble, and that is me, trying to get at him.

Ian, isn’t it great that we be alone together?

It’s not like I can’t be alone.  I can be alone. Being alone gives me a good chance to call my brother John, and if he's busy then I try my mom, and if she doesn't answer, I try my sister-in-law Audrey, and if she doesn't answer...you might get a call from me someday.