Join your hosts Katherine and Shelbi as they reflect on solo time, why they embrace it, and where it stands in our individualistic, digitally connected, and increasingly lonely society.

Expressing What We Want and Need from Alone Time

• Human Design helps in understanding when and how we need to be alone, whether it’s to rest, think, or be inspired by what’s around us
• The importance of informing others that you can’t be there when you’re dipping into solo time

Finding Comfort in Being With Yourself 

• Solo time can serve as an opportunity to make progress towards your goals, lean into contentment, and deeply learn about yourself
• “If you are lonely when you’re alone you are in bad company.” - Jean-Paul Sartre
• Embracing the “delicious” nature of aloneness and knowing that “you are with you” (referencing Aloneness by Gwendolyn Brooks, in minutes 39:22-42:03 of her University of Iowa poetry reading on March 4, 1974)

Examining Convenience’s Cost Over Connection

• While time is a commodity for all, it’s important to extend the invitation to connect if you’re enjoying getting to know someone
• Social media voyeurism isn’t a form of connecting, but engaging with someone’s content to show interest and share commonalities is an easy way to reach out

Seeking Community in an Increasingly Pay-to-Play Society

• There’s an opportunity to keep an eye out for loneliness in others and connect them to people whose company they may enjoy and benefit from
• Instagram serves as a modern day calling card with public displays of activity increasing loneliness in others, demonstrating that “solitude is less solitary than ever” (referencing Derek Thompson’s article, Why Americans Suddenly Stopped Hanging Out, in The Atlantic)
• We’re seeing a decline in free/low cost community institutions and an increase in elite bubbles of privileged community, creating a messy middle phase in society as we unravel individualism, unpack capitalism, and learn soft skills to develop meaningful relationships

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