Hello darkness my old friend.


I like to pride myself on some level of lonerhood and independence, because A) it is the curse of my sign and B) I rarely, if ever, get what one would call “lonely.” I have been alone many times in my life, but I never feel the overwhelming need to be with human company just to avoid being alone. The few people I do choose to spend time with are there because I genuinely enjoy their company and they enrich my life in some way and I hope I, in turn, enrich theirs. I have zero issue with going just about anywhere by myself and I have been known to go see a movie I’ve been wanting to see by myself or try a restaurant by myself.


Yet today I have to admit I’m more than a little afraid of the days ahead. For one, I volunteered to dog sit for my sister. So I will be staying at her house which is over an hour away from everything I know. Meanwhile, my girlfriend is working nights the two nights before my dog duties begin. So for the next 4 days, I ‘m going to be completely out of my element. Luckily, it is still a busy time, but I do sort of worry about what will pop into my head when there isn’t anyone else but a Jack Russell around to talk to. As someone who once moved to a strange city and lived by himself for a year and a half, I know alone time isn’t all it is cracked up to be, but I also wonder if maybe I have been intentionally avoiding some solitude. I think in some ways it will be like visiting an old friend. In all likelihood, my old pall will tell me I have grown fat and boring and we will part before the meeting leads to fisticuffs. Honestly this is the first time in my life I have ever genuinely feared being by myself and it has unnerved me a little.