The Joys of Solitude

I often get these videos turning up in my You Tube feed with titles like 'I Have No Friends' or 'How to Avoid Loneliness' and every variation you can think of on the theme.  Now, I know that this indicates that You Tube's algorithm thinks that I'm some kind of sad old git lacking human contact (probably as a result of the number of videos of model railways I look at), but I'm afraid that I'm the wrong guy for this sort of stuff.  When I see something like 'I Have No Friends' my immediate reaction is 'why are you telling me?'  If it worries you that much, you should sure;y be out in the real world, socialising and making contact with real life human beings, rather than posting videos online.  Personally speaking, as I've noted here previously, I actually don't understand this anxiety about having few friends or being alone.  I'm one of those weirdos who enjoys their own company.  I have friends and acquaintances, but I like them in small doses: I can handle them better that way.  In general though, I can't say that I really like people much, especially not en masse.  When I hear people saying how terrible it is that some poor old git that they are patronising hasn't seen or spoken to anyone in a week, I think 'Jeez, lucky bugger!'  Solitude is my idea of paradise.  

In fact, I sincerely believe that from solitude comes strength: if you can make peace with yourself and happily live with yourself without self-loathing and self doubt for an extended period, then you'll develop the mental strength to deal with just about anything.  It just isn't clear to me exactly why so many people apparently can't deal with being on their own - do they really need constant external stimulation from others?  It probably helps that I've always had a well developed imagination, but I can happily live in my own head.  I can always find ways to amuse myself.  The best thing about solitude is that it gives you the time and space to actually think properly about, well, everything.  I love thinking.  Maybe other people don't.  Perhaps they find it challenging and confronting.  Nowadays I look back on the days when I was still working full time and marvel that I ever survived it with all the other people I had to deal with and their constant demands frequently leaving me without the time and space to think properly.  The sense of freedom that I enjoy now is marvellous - my time is my own and I can set my own pace for my life.  I can't help but feel that what is needed to combat loneliness is to teach people to actually enjoy their time alone, rather than all those bloody patronising 'initiatives' the do-gooders go in for of 'reaching out' to the allegedly lonely.  Look, I accept that loneliness is apparently a problem for many people, but it isn't for me, so please You Tube, stop shoving these videos in my timeline.