Mi casa es su casa.

I am going to have a roommate again. Its been over a year now that I’ve lived alone. In fact, not counting the 6 months I lived in my dad’s house (cause I don’t remember a whole lot of that time, and I rarely saw him) I’ve been living by myself since August of 2003.

I am one of those people who can do that. Actually, for some time I was under the impression that anyone could do that. Yeah, not so much. As I get older, and meet more new people, I see that only a minority of people can handle living alone and an even smaller number choose to. Sometimes it seems its financially driven-- roommates make rent cheaper usually. Sometimes it seems like a genuine desire to live in an environment with constant activity. Sometimes, and this is what kills me, its codependence. When a person becomes so uncomfortable being alone that they will go to great lengths (and make dumb decisions) to never find themselves without another person close by. I don’t trust people who can’t be alone. Something about that mentality never seems to sit well with me. I take pride in being able to live happily and productively by myself. The artistic side of me thrives off of it, and I am a much calmer person than I once was.

On the other hand, too much of any good thing can be bad. I’ve already mentioned the monetary cost of solitude-- which is unfortunate, to say the least-- but there is also the risk of loneliness and social anxiety which can be amplified by living alone. Luckily, I have a job that requires me to be very social, and I am not without a few really great friends, so I rarely feel completely alone. It has been shown, however, that the intimate experience of living with another person can have a signifigantly positive effect on improving communication and a variety of other necessary social skills.

So, it’s a slippery slope. There are, obviously, other ups and downs to this argument but most are petty and insignificant. Its about being able to adjust to, and function in, either situation. Personally, I think I have a decent amount of living-alone-time under my belt.

Lets switch it up a bit now, shall we?