Feeling lonely living by myself

I just returned from spending two weeks at my parents’ house, and while spending time with them has its challenges, I really enjoyed having coffee in the morning with them while we each read a book or newspaper, and then I loved spending the late afternoons sitting around and chatting together, eating dinner together, and watching tv together. I live alone and miss living with others. I’m 38 and most people I know live with their partners and children, but I am single and do not have children. I also work from home most days in a very independent job. I’ve been dating for many years and just never met someone who I wanted to partner with, and I don’t want to be with someone just to not have to be alone all the time. In my dream life, I would live with a few other women in a big house and we would all raise kids collectively and share our meals, chores, etc. I don’t know what to do, but I don’t want to spend my evenings all alone anymore.

 

 

Answer:

First, allow yourself some time to process this transition. Even a two week holiday spending time with family and then coming home will need some adjustment. How can you support yourself?

Notice how your experience has given you some good information. What have you learned? What is your inner voice wanting to tell you now?

What are you willing to do in order to create the evenings and connections you want? See what comes up as you explore.  Sometimes we might want to categorize feeling lonely as a problem, or a negative emotion, but what if loneliness is exactly what you need right now? What if instead of needing to cure it, you harnessed it?