I have never lived alone and most likely never will, but I have often wondered if I truly missed out on an important life experience as a woman by always sharing my living space with someone else.
What do my fellow ladies think?
Posted Feb 4, 2016, 12:24 AM UTC
Fuckin awesome. I love everything about living alone. I've been doing it for almost six years now.
I liked living alone and did so for eight years. It can be lonely sometimes, but I found that I became extremely self-sufficient. If you do end up living alone, I strongly advise keeping something sharp or heavy nearby in case you feel unsafe. I also strongly advise getting a pet to keep you company. I had a sweet little black cat who kept me sane.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I absolutely think if I was to ever live alone that a pet, most likely a cat or 2 would be a necessity for me.
The great thing about cats is when you hear a noise at 4am you default to "cat" instead of "OMG PSYCHO AXE MURDERER"
I love living alone. I think you really get to know yourself.
Since I moved out from my parents' home, I've lived alone. It sucks when you're sick or your car is in the shop or you're expecting a delivery and have no one to rely on. On the other hand, I do what I want when I want how I want.
I've never lived anywhere that I feared for my safety so I don't really get being paranoid about being a single female living alone.
My mother always told my brother and i to never go from home, to college, to spouse. Learn to live on your own for a few years, learn to be independent and self sufficient, so if you have to do it, youll already know how.
I love living alone, but im an introvert, and tend to not like people that much, so im not lonely. I have my hobbies and animals and the mess in the kitchen and bathroom is all mine. :)
Great! I shower when I want, go to sleep when I want, wake up when I want. I don't have to tell anyone where I'm going or what I'm doing when I leave my apartment.
Plus my apartment is entirely a reflection of me. I hang my art up on the walls, in addition to posters of my favorite musicians and tv shows. The place is strewn with knickknacks and I keep it as messy or as tidy as I please.
I also don't get afraid of anyone breaking in or attacking me, which is a concern some of my female friends who live alone have expressed. I think that it is incredibly unlikely that that will ever happen, and even if it does worrying about it now won't do me any good.
I hope I get to live alone for the rest of my life. It suits my personality completely.
However, I recognize that it doesn't suit everyone. Some people were raised in households where there were always other people around--or, possibly, where the whole neighborhood functioned as a sort of extended family unit. I imagine that living in a small studio apartment alone would be very hard for someone who grew up in that environment, for very legitimate reasons.
Other people are simply more extroverted than me and gain energy by being around other people almost constantly.
So I think that it's good to be able to live alone if you need to (to not be afraid of it, to not view it as a sad or depressing thing, to not put up living with another person or several people who treat you poorly to avoid it), but I certainly wouldn't say that everyone should live alone or have lived alone at some point in their lives.
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Amazing.
I Love it and will never go back too having roommates. I lived with a boyfriend for a year and a half and that was fine, not the same as a roommate. I'd live with a bf again, just not roommates.
I prefer to live alone, though I currently have a flat mate. I've lived alone for many years and never felt lonely as I actually made more of an effort to go out and see people or have friends over. And it really is a great way to learn self-sufficiency - when you slice your finger open while chopping up a watermelon with a really big knife there's no one to help you find a band-aid (I learnt that the hard way).
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NO PANTS.
I thought I would love living alone
But honestly it felt very isolating. No one to talk to ever. No one to even say goodnight or good morning to or how was your day. Eating all meals alone unless I went out to eat.
I feel like this, and I live with a partner :(
I think it depends on who you are. I started planning to move out when I was 17, even though my relationship with my parents was very good, and when I (after a few years of saving) did move out, I did so with a high degree of independency and none of the "hybrid" stages of roommates or group houses. I loved it. Did it for five years before moving in with my now-husband. It took me a long time to adjust to living with someone (again) and while I always miss him when he is gone, I do really enjoy having the house to myself. I found 'not living alone' the hardest thing to adjust to in our entire relationship + marriage and it is the one thing I think I sometimes miss.
My brother, on the other hand, is unwilling to live alone to the point where I'd say he is almost incapable of doing so. He did not move out until his late twenties, (he had a brief stint of rooming with other people during uni, but he still came home multiple times per week), and when he did move out, he did so with his girlfriend.
So... Maybe you missed something wonderful. Maybe you did not.
This is the first year I've lived alone, and usually I really like it. I'm something of a social introvert, so I like having somewhere to go that's just for me. Occasionally it'll be a little too quiet or I'll get lonely, but 95% of the time it's nice. I think the only way it'd be nicer would be if I had a kitty snuggled up on my lap... I might do that soon.
It's fun. You don't have to put up with others' expectations or worry about the comfort of anyone besides yourself. Not when it comes to cleanliness, hygiene, food, drinking, decoration, noise, tv show choices... it's all up to you. It's very freeing and you get to know a lot about yourself.
I've made it a point to live on my own and I love it.
Living alone is awesome! Everything is clean to your standards. You can really get immersed in your projects/studies/career without the distraction of having to engage in the emotional labor of a roommate. You can have nude-fantasy-makeup-yoga-sessions or whatever and no one is gonna judge. It's all very liberating. I love living with my SO, but living alone was definitely awesome!
As to safety: never tell rando delivery guys/maintenance guys/whomever that you live alone. Your roommates are just out and you're holding down the fort. People who challenge you on this are people to watch out for. Also, if the maintenance guy in your building develops an unhealthy obsession with you because you remind him of his sick daughter, you probably won't be able to prove that he is going into your apartment when you're gone without the aid of video cameras... So there's that...
Overall though, 10 outta 10 with rice.
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I am in my late 20s and never ever lived alone until the last five months. At first, it was really stressful because I was in fear that my ex-boyfriend was going to come back to do something crazy. I had a lot of nightmares and even my first experience with sleep paralysis, I believe.
At some point, that fear subsided and things became more easy. I have two cats and they help a lot. I don't really get lonely because I am somewhat introverted so I enjoy the time with myself and the kitties. Weekends are easy because I either go to my boyfriends place or he comes over.
I enjoy only having to clean up after myself. I enjoy just kicking back and doing whatever I want to do to relax. It is nice having the place to my self! If I have guests over, its okay because nobody else is here to interfere or be mindful of.
I live in a good neighborhood so I never worry about that kind of thing, but I am always very very aware of my surroundings. I pay attention to vehicles in the parking lot, people walking around etc. But everyone should do that, no matter who they are or where they are in their lives.
Probably the biggest con is the fear of being preyed upon. It's not really that big of a fear anymore, the longer I've been here alone though. It also helps that I own firearms. Overall, living alone is not bad, especially if you feel comfortable where you are and not living in fear. It is nice to have the quite time to myself...that's something I have never experienced until now. Could I do it for a longer period of time? Probably.
I'm glad I'm in the minority here, but I didn't really like it. I'm used to having people around in the background, quietly doing their own things. I felt kind of isolated and sad.
It's amaaaaaazing. Everything can be just as you want it. No discussions/compromises/anything to negotiate. I look forward to living with a partner again, but it has been heaven.