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Blogocentric Formulations #1093759 added July 20, 2025 at 1:15pm
Restrictions: None
Forever Alone
Prompt #75: Do you enjoy going out alone (e.g., to dinner at a restaurant, to see a movie, etc.)? Why or why not?
I actually really enjoy going out and doing things on my own. I've never had a problem sitting by myself in a movie theater to watch something, and about fifteen years ago I went on my first business trip where I had to eat alone (a city I don't live in, and none of my coworkers from that branch were available to go out), and ended up enjoying the experience. I'm a naturally introspective person and someone who likes to observe the world around him, so it's not really that big a deal for me to sit by myself for a meal, or be out and about in the world by myself.
There are definitely a lot of times when I want to be around people (I'd rather go see a comedy movie with a friend because we can laugh together about it, and I'm always up for some quality dinner conversation), but I've definitely reached a point in my life where the backup of a solo outing isn't something that bothers me. For example, it's really common for me to tell my wife that I want to see a movie that's in the theater, and if it's one that she actually wants to see, we'll go see it together. If it's not one that she wants to see, I'll go catch a late showing by myself one night after the kids are in bed while she stays home and does her thing.
I sometimes wonder if the reason I like that stuff, though, is more for its novelty than anything else. My wife and I have been living together for twenty years, so it's rare that we have a moment where we're not together, outside of the usual work schedules, errands, etc. I think we can both probably count on our fingers and toes the number of nights that we've spent away from one another since we've been married. So going out and doing something on my own is a bit of a novel experience compared to my usual day-to-day lifestyle. I honestly don't know if it would be the same if circumstances suddenly put me in a place where isolation was the norm.
For example, if I were to suddenly have to live alone for some reason, would I still be inclined to do those same things on my own? Would I still find novelty and enjoyment in eating alone if I did so two or three meals a day, every day? I suspect that my preferences would reverse, and I would then seek out more communal activities. I have a few friends who are still single (or married and they have a lot of free time because they and their spouses have radically different schedules or interests), and they're always the ones texting and going, "Hey, want to grab dinner tonight?" or "Does anyone else want to go to that concert that's coming to town next week?" I suspect I'd probably be "that guy" if I were living alone, where I'd be looking for opportunities to connect with people.
At the end of the day, I think I'm all about balance. I don't mind going out alone currently because I'm very rarely alone at any given hour of the day. But if I were alone as a default, I imagine that I'd probably be less inclined to do activities solo and would more actively look for companionship for whatever I wanted to do.
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