My idea of a social gathering is to drink Spanish coffee seaside while watching people.
I tend to avoid social gatherings even though I have pretty good social skills, have been in leadership positions, and am an avid observer of human behavior. I find humans to be fascinating, but can only take them in small doses. For years, I've read articles about the benefits of interacting with others. I've even been told that my lifespan could be shorter because I don't spend enough time with other people. Popular consensus as well as advice from psychologists consistently advise us to spend time in the company of humans.
Turns out, however, that loners are often creative, more reflective, and may have higher intelligence levels. Who woulda thunk it!
Does a creative person need alone time in order to be productive? Am I a prolific writer because I spend a lot of time alone? Would it even be humanly possible to produce the amount of work that I've produced over the years if I'd been a social butterfly? Practically speaking, unless a person requires no sleep and is independently wealthy so they don't have to work, they'll need to give up social time in order to create. The evolution of an idea demands quality time to go from inception to completion.
"We tend to decry being alone. But emerging research suggests some potential benefits to being a loner – including for our creativity, mental health and even leadership skills."
The above quote was lifted from the article Why Being a Loner May Be Good For Your Health from Best of the BBC Future/Psychology. I found myself smiling while reading about the possible benefits of being anti social. After all, I've spent a large chunk of my life hidden behind closed doors while writing, playing the piano, reading, or thinking, I would inform the most committed researcher that I am often at my happiest when thus involved. (click the above title above read the article)
Nobody asked, of course, but I known for years that what worked best for me was the gift of solitude.
People will try on occasion to fix a loner, especially extroverts. They can't fathom that we're content spending so much time alone. We try to explain that alone and lonely are two different experiences, but they don't buy it. We love them for their attention while also longing for them to just leave us — ALONE.
Society wasn't designed for left-handed individuals and it's not designed for creators. When I'm alone, however, the creative juices start to flow. That's all I need to know.
