Go to the Movies Alone

Disclaimer: In the event that this post becomes widely circulated across social media (though I doubt it will), please remember if you do not agree you are welcome to do so, but this is my blog and these are my opinions. Thanks. :)

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I like being alone. Just me. By myself. Solitude.

Please, don't misunderstand, I'm not a loner. I DO have friends. I really enjoy being with people and (I think) I'm very friendly and social. The alone I'm talking about is the alone where it's just me, likely at home in my room bingeing on Netflix. That's actually probably a little too accurate...

Or maybe the alone that comes with, say, running errands. (Aimlessly and leisurely strolling around Target with a venti Valenica Orange Refresher from Starbucks is pretty much my fave.)

It's NOT the alone where you're by yourself but surrounded by people. More clearly, the alone where you're by yourself but are almost expected to be with others, like a meal in a crowded restaurant or at the movies. THAT alone nearly gives me heart palpitations.

For the longest time going to the movies by myself was on my bucket list. Until it was crossed off last summer. :) Because honestly, you NEED to know how to be that kind of alone.

You might be asking yourself, ok why do I need to know how to be that kind of alone? Or more likely, who are you to tell me I need to know? So first some background.

I clearly remember telling some of my older relatives that going to movies by myself was on my bucket list. Most of them didn't care; in the sense that they didn't see why it was worthy enough to be on my bucket list. "Because..." I said, "It's by yourself, you're not supposed to go to movies by yourself."

"But what if you REALLY want to see that film and no one else does," one countered, "or you have two hours to kill?" I then realized the more important point: why aren't you supposed to go alone? It's dark, you can't really talk to anyone anyways, who cares? Well, still me, but why?

In short: it's vulnerable, you don't have anyone to distract you from yourself. There's no deflection. There was a quote I remember seeing around pinterest a lot a while back, erroneously attributed to writer Oscar Wilde, that said some along the lines of "You have to know how to be by yourself and not defined by another person." The popular quote was actually coined by actress Olivia Wilde (good try Internet) about her then recent divorce.

You need to be you outside of being a gaggle of friends or someone's date. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh; you do need other's to define you a little... just not all the time. Because at some point, you will be that {scary} kind of alone and, in all likelihood, a stranger is not going to come save you.

So why not start learning how at the 8pm Friday showing of that new blockbuster you’ve been dying to see?

(a pic from when I was actually the only one in the theatre)

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If you’ve stayed that whole way a big thanks to you!

Again: If you disagree, write a response why I’m all wrong (we’ll both grow from it.)