Killing loneliness

I'm a solo librarian, which means I work alone to run this library. I also live alone. Needless to say, I get a LOT of alone time. This is great, because I'm an introvert and I like that kind of thing. But there is such a thing, even for me, of too much alone time.

Remember all the snow where I was stuck inside my house for DAYS on two separate occasions this last winter? Yeah, I was ready to start hanging upside on my furniture I was so tired of being cooped up and away from people.

One of the benefits of living by my lonesome is that I get to choose the amount of social interaction I partake in, so on days I'm feeling socially off, I don't have to wonder who is going to be in my house.

One of the downsides is that when I do want social time and to see friends, I don't automatically have one around and I don't always have the success I'd like of getting together with the people I don't live with.

That's when I get lonely.

I can get discouraged easily when seemingly everyone and their dog says they have something else going on. If I'm discouraged and disheartened by my social situation, I find myself even more willing to just go somewhere by myself, or stay in and watch Netflix. I like myself, and I don't ever bail on me.

The key, I've learned, is not to give up when I don't have someone readily available and willing to spend time with me. Sometimes, I have to rack my brain to think of others who might even be remotely interested in getting together AND available at the same time.

But, as I remind myself, I do have friends, and many people I don't yet know well who might want to be friends.

William Butler Yeats said, "There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met."

I just have to reach out and be a friend to find a friend. "I went out to find a friend and could not find one there. I went out to be a friend, and friends were everywhere."

Easier said than done sometimes, but the rewards can be eternal!