How Would You Call It - Loneliness or Freedom? Gran Canaria

Being for yourself and enjoying your own company. How would you call it?

Some of you called it loneliness, but for me it’s freedom.

I just would like to share a few thoughts with you that helped me in general as well as in times of the lockdown, which was one of the hardest in Spain. Maybe it will help those who are about to face the lockdown again. As you read my following words, just remember, being alone is not the worst thing.

Let me explain you why.

When we make a trip with “Lenny The Overlander” I always try being alone for a while. Just to relearn and appreciate the loneliness or as I call it freedom. Therefore from time to time I leave our base and try to find a place I like and where I feel comfortable to enjoy the silence.

In my personal case it’s freedom, why? Because it gives the possibility to unwind and to relax without having any influence. How many of us get lost in the world with just our phones and social media? With I don’t exclude myself from this. We’ve seen often some people sitting around the table, maybe friends or family, and everyone is looking down at their phones. Talking about being out of social media, but still not being present.

All the influencers who expose almost their entire lives on social media show us a world that is not always the truth. They are supposed to influence us as much as possible with products, which we are meant to buy. In these so-called communities of those influencers, we are made to believe that they are close to use and a kind of friend that we don’t feel alone and we get stuck on social media as much as possible. This is a replacement for not having to be alone. Because a lot of us including me can't be alone any more. But why?

Being alone can be so helpful. In those moments I started to learn something about myself because I can listen into myself and feel myself. I restart to appreciate myself. It’s so relieving not to have the opportunity to watch what other people have and do.

Since we are nowadays all quite materialistic, we lose the ability to create things with our own hands. Things that might help us in emergency situations. For example the knowledge about medicinal plants, lighting a fire without a lighter, kitchen gardening or even baking a loaf of bread.

I become aware of all those things when I am alone being in the nature. Because the nature starts to influence me and these are rather essential things.

Sometime I like to read historical novels and it always fascinated me how people, like our own grandparents and parents, started to rebuild their lives with nothing.

I’m not sure what the upcoming years will bring, but I’m confined that I will continue to maximize the precious alone time as well as my basic skills that I almost have forgotten. How for example to have a profound conversation without looking at the phone. Especially Social Media destroys so many beautiful things that used to be normal when I was young.

And the best thing is that I realized that I don’t need an approval for any decisions I make in my life. If nobody approves, that’s ok. I can still do it. If I fail, I fail, no problem I will get up and learn from my mistakes. If I succeed good fo me and only for me not for others.

One last thing I would like to give you along the path. The real reason why we should learn on not fear being alone is, that the time will come when we will be alone, but if we know the blessing and we learn to gain strength from this it can be a time of growth too.

So make the best out of it and having a good time even you have to stay at home.

Love,

Katy!

Pics by Daniell Bohnhof

Tex by Look2 Ocean