Can I Stand A Day Without Talking To Someone?

What´s in our minds when we´re alone for a day and we´re not used to it?

If someone asked me a year and a half ago, I would most definitely laugh at the question of whether I´m able to survive a day alone. Things and people change, but personally, having human contact is one of the most powerful motivations I can encounter.

We, as individuals and people around us are two totally different teachers for our mental development and neither of these two teachers should be neglected.

I have tried avoiding people for a day already a couple of times. It´s like one of these challenges, people prefer to avoid rather than actually find out how they would hold up afterwards. In the last year and a half, I´ve been struggling a lot while learning how to enjoy time spent alone, or even more, how to find it enriching. And I´m almost convinced I´ll never learn it properly. However, I still wanted to achieve a day all by myself to make sure I don´t need others to keep going.

The perfect opportunity for pursuing this goal came yesterday. A couple of days ago, I managed to escape to Stockholm, a place I´ve never been to before and a city where I don´t know anyone. Unlike most of Europe, Sweden is inconspicuously fighting a way through pandemic without limiting locals. Restaurants, coffee shops, and museums are basically unlimitedly open and masks in the crowds are being seen rarely. That means that I should be able to entertain myself avoiding having a private conversation with anyone…

I went through a lot of phases that day. The content of the day wasn´t any sophisticated. I got up at 7 am and went for a run. Checking my phone shortly after I wake up is still my weakness, but this time, the devotion to antisocialisation stayed. The run was tougher than usual, minutes felt like hours and meters like miles. The rest of the melting snow on the streets was not helping, but the music kept me going. I´m such a bad runner, however, running is luckily still one of the very few things that can get me out of the bed. Afterwards I´ve done some school and headed to the city.

Hours-long wandering through the chilly center was rather melancholic. I noticed that when I´m not stressed or distracted by someone else, I perceive details, I normally wouldn´t be capable of capturing. Some of them warmed my heart, others the opposite. Every now and then, I smiled about something, then I closed myself up and continued in thoughts, ignoring the world around me. And how much time there suddenly is!

It is everyone´s individual journey. Managing a day without any active social interactions is harder than it looks. At least for me. I missed talking to someone, but on the other hand, it felt oddly pleasant.

So what, are you up for a challenge?