Things You Realize When You Start to Live Alone
I’ve been living by myself for the past few months in an apartment. And I must say, the experience came with its unique lessons. Now, I’ve lived in hostels before or back in 2018, I rented an apartment with 5 other university friends. But I wouldn’t count any of that as “Living Alone”. You’re not living alone if you are:
- Going back & forth to your parents’ constantly
- Renting an apartment with more than 1 roommate.
- Not living in a room by yourself.
So recently I found a like-minded friend looking for the same experience and we teamed up to create our own Joey-Chandler experience (without the foosball table tho). And these few months have been such an eye-opener for me, that I have started to believe everyone should live alone for at least a few months in their lives. Why you ask? Well, here it is
You’re Responsible for Your Own Breakfast
Now, this is such a minor detail in our life when we are cared for that we don’t even consider this to be an experience. But, when I poached my first egg and made myself a morning tea to go with before rushing to work, I realized what a fulfilling and serene experience it can be.
Needless to say, the road to making my own breakfast didn’t happen in a day. I had days without breakfast, then I found ways to create instant breakfast (with jam/jelly) and finally landed on the fulfilling experience of a truly nutritious breakfast. If I have to be somewhere at 9, that means now I have to leave at 8, which means I have to wake at 7 and it is turning into an amazing habit worth pursuing in life!
If you’re struggling with waking up, that’s mostly because you don’t have a goal. Making your breakfast can not only fill that void, but also give you an instant inspiration, and guess what, you start to change bit by bit.
No One To Do The Dishes
Yes, exactly. I come from a family where my mother would die working before asking for any help. I have also assumed that the dishes just do themselves. I always had an awry feeling when it comes to cleaning, but when you’re living alone, if you want to eat on a clean plate, you need to do the dishes first.
This realization was followed by another interesting one. When you’re living by yourself, you can create your own system. You can choose to start saving for a dishwasher, or you can buy a Dishwashing gloves mom never uses! In my case, I opted for the second one. And, now I spend a good ten minutes every day doing my dishes and guess what, it’s not tiring at all. I love it just as always.
You Can Buy Your Own Brand of Toothpaste
As a young adult buyer in the FMCG, I always fall under the trier market generically. But, when I lived with my parents, I never really got to try what I wanted. Everything was under an uncalled system. The soap, the toothpaste, the food — it all becomes a habit in the family that you have zero say in.
But when you’re living alone, you can now try different things! How about trying a new toothpaste every month? Sure, who’s to stop you. CRAZY, right? What it essentially does, in the long run, is, it helps you create your own identity, helps you realize your own preferences, living by yourself creates a new you!
You Can Decorate Your Own Living Room
When you are living by yourself, you’re not only thinking of yourself. If you go to a shop and buy one plate, that’s not going to help. How would you serve when guests come over? You think about buying different kinds of chairs, a table, some fancy lights maybe…. You start thinking in a broader spectrum.
Just today, I went out and bought myself a welcome mat for my door. Me! A welcome mat. I never thought I would even have to think about it, but now I did. And I’m writing about it. And it feels good.
So there you go. When you start to live by yourself you learn minor things that you never would have learned by yourselves. Interestingly enough, these minor shifts create a paradigm shift inside you. It helps you rise early, it makes you practice a habit, it gives you an identity and changes the way you see things inside out. And it’s a change worth pursuing!
Don’t have any idea how to get started living alone? Ping me at rdshafayat@gmail.com or comment below!
