Why I prefer my own company

I don’t remember when or how but I once heard this saying: “You’re the only person you go to bed with every night and the only person you wake up with every morning.” I thought I knew what the saying implied — I did not — and just recently have realized it suggests one should be content with their own company and being with oneself.

In a town as small and somewhat sleepy as Santa Fe, it’s easy to not have much to do on a Friday evening or to simply not feel the need to “paint the town red” — another saying I’m still deciphering. There have been many weekends spent at home and countless bad movies rented just because I am an introvert. I am not afraid to say it: I enjoy my own company a heck of a lot more than that of others.

Back when COVID-19 took the world for a surprise, like many others, I spent what seemed like an inordinate amount of time in bed or on the couch. But then I got bored. I started to clean more, to cook and read and bake. I danced around in the kitchen in my pajamas. I eventually started collecting vinyl and writing for the newspaper. In a way, I gradually stopped going out altogether, even when restrictions were lifted.