An point was made 1/4-way into the article: "It’s less about our circumstances, more about how we react to them." The same with most things in life, it's not necessarily what is happening but how we feel about it. I can allow myself to get nearly homicidal over having to park 6 blocks from my apartment building when I get home from work at night because of people who won't park within 5 feet of another car (thereby having 3 cars taking up 5 parking spaces), or I can think to myself, "Wow, I'm getting an extra 800 steps just walking to and from my car today!"
Like most people here, I'm rarely bored being by myself. I don't need to be entertained, and people who absolutely HAVE to fill the silence with chatter will begin to annoy TF out of me quickly. I enjoy the extra "layers" in the environment that are only noticed in solitude, as the article mentioned. Great find, Kate ~~ Thanks for sharing this!
Nice observations. I'm comfortable with my solitude, too. Why are so many people threatened by other's solitude??
"There is a vast difference between loneliness and solitude. Solitude is a kind of food, we eat of it and it sustains us, but loneliness is a starvation diet - no one ever gets healthy being lonely. To be alone and unloved must be the most terrible thing in the world."
Tom Tyron, from his novel "Lady"