Is Living Alone Making You Weird?

[theoddz]

Well, I have to laugh because I was weird long before I ever lived alone.

I don't think that living alone, in itself, has done the damage.

It's no one's fault but mine that I have two groups of underwear....one for day and the other for night wear.

The rest is just a bunch of OCD, phobias and quirks going on.

I got those all by myself, too.

Independent-like.

~Theo~

[Kelt]

Yep

Picky doesn't begin to describe it. After a couple of decades of "voluntary simplicity" I upgraded to "minimalist".

Having anything around that isn't specifically functional or aesthetically loved makes me buggy. Like crawl the walls buggy.

Ironically, if something sits out of place for a few days it becomes invisible and can go unnoticed for months until something else brings it back to my attention. Then it must go or be dealt with immediately.

Sometimes its as though all the cupboard and closet doors went missing. I can see exactly what is in them and then they have to be re-edited just to be sure. Fortunately, I don't have much stuff anymore.

Weird might apply.

[Leigh]

That's one thing about me, I've never been able to live alone ~ I always have to live with someone, even a roommate ~ I don't seem to do well living along lol

[puddin']

it makes me no weirder den i already am, and i'm weird enough to start wit'. lol. but i do behave well in public, and play well wit' othas! (and between you and me, i prefer it!)

[dixie]

Ha! I'm weird enough on my own, so I don't think being alone makes any difference.

[Glenn]

Well, I'm getting ready for bed so I'll raise the security level to defcon 4.
don't have to worry about anyone coming here...
battlestations...the shade are down...my cats have their helmets on...and gave me the thumbs/paws up...
We are ready...operation disengagement is in effect...
holy s***...someone called up and ordered sandbags

[foxyshaman]

The last 1.5 years I have lived alone for the first time in my life. The first few months were weird. I kept expecting the kids to come at all hours. And then slowly the 'freedom' started to move into me. We became friends.

This is also the first time I have been single AND lived alone. So, I feel like I am in a really exciting place.

Will I get weirder... laughing... by whose standards?? <says the dangerously dorky dyke who refers to herself as a fox> <smiley widely>

[Ciaran]

I don't talk to my pets - I don't have any so if I talked to them it would be a bit wierd I guess.

I do talk to my stuffed Kermit and occasionally grope him too. I don't think that this is too wierd given that, as he cannot answer back, he tends to implicitly share my outlook on life (good) and, as for the groping, we'll at least he doesn't expect me to take him out for a meal before or afterwards so it's cheaper on my wallet.

See, even what may seem wierd at the outset can have a perfectly rational explanation ........

[Kätzchen]

It's been about 7 weeks now that I've been on my own, but I think if anything about me has changed, I'm thinking that it has to be this deep need to have someone to talk with and share about everyday life.

Other than that and a few other items of interest, life seems to be full of new discoveries.

And I find that enchanting and beautiful.

[cricket26]

yes...that is all...

[Diablo]

living alone is fabulous ...until its not. I miss my wife....i miss waking up next to her...i miss coffee together...i miss parts of sharing my life..and living with her. Then.....i LOVE living alone..i love having a clean apt. Money...i love having MY money...and having it. I love knowing where stuff is...i love coming and going as i please....i find myself...enjoying my alone time more than enjoying my time with friends.....i LOVE the quiet......the ease...of just being....alone.......i think this isnt always healthy or good for me.

[Gemme]

I'm with the general consensus that I was weird before I started living alone.

I prefer living alone and it tends to be safer for the general population.

If I don't like the paint on the walls, I'm the only one that's going to bitch about it. Or not. If I forgot to take something out for dinner, I'm the only one who has to make the decision to patchwork something from the fridge or go get something. And, if going out, where to go. I only have to fight the sofa cushions for the remote and I usually win. I'm a total bed hog and that's best when there's no one for me to have to bully. It's not pretty.

On the flip side, I have no one to blame when I lose shit or forget to do something important.

Maybe I should get a pet.

[Kelt]

I don't think I'm weird, and I love living alone. I tried the live-together bit, three times, two years each, all in my twenties. Each time I started feeling trapped at about six months but tried to stick it out. Bad idea for everyone involved.

I've lived alone for the last twenty five years and wouldn't change a thing. I have been partnered and single, and I have been pressured hard to "be normal". I am normal, perhaps more normal than most, I'm happy when many are miserable for the sake of.. what? I have no need to share the joys of housework. I will live down the hall, across the street, or upstairs. But not with. I know my limits and respect those of others.

I'm glad so many want to and do live together, but it isn't for me.

Gemme, get a cat! They're the bee's knee's, well not so much but you know. Calicos are best. And yes, I talk to my cat all the time. She is mute, literally not figuratively, so we're a matched set.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Kelt

I don't think I'm weird, and I love living alone. I tried the live-together bit, three times, two years each, all in my twenties. Each time I started feeling trapped at about six months but tried to stick it out. Bad idea for everyone involved.

I've lived alone for the last twenty five years and wouldn't change a thing. I have been partnered and single, and I have been pressured hard to "be normal". I am normal, perhaps more normal than most, I'm happy when many are miserable for the sake of.. what? I have no need to share the joys of housework. I will live down the hall, across the street, or upstairs. But not with. I know my limits and respect those of others.

I'm glad so many want to and do live together, but it isn't for me.

Gemme, get a cat! They're the bee's knee's, well not so much but you know. Calicos are best. And yes, I talk to my cat all the time. She is mute, literally not figuratively, so we're a matched set.

Kelt, thanks for the suggestion. I've had many cats through the years and up to 8 at one time. I'm an OCL -- Original Cat Lady! lol

My dad has the best solution I've found for those that wish to be partnered but wish to live alone as well. He lives in one modular home and a few doors down, his wife lives in her own mod home. He's close enough to do the stuff around her place that she can't or won't do and she's close enough to bring over his favorite home cooked meals. They go to church and doctor visits and the store together like any other married couple but then he goes home to his bed and she goes home to hers. Brilliant!

Another here who was weird waaaay before I lived alone. I love living as a single household with just me and Woodipotimus to please. We're a partnership that can never be broken. Our conversations have to be heard to be believed.

Like Kelt, tried the living together thang but shied away from it ever since. Should I meet another person I hope to spend a life with and they wanted to live together then I would require the west wing of any dwelling to myself.

[Orema]

I love living alone. The perfect partnership for me would be for both of us to live on different sides of the park (or lake, or mountain). Spend a night or two at your place, a night or two at my place, then retreat to our own places to rejuvenate.

[SirenManda]

Before I moved to Seattle I attempted living alone but ended up having family stay with my constantly because actually being alone felt empty. Growing up with a big family (tons of cousins) I got used to people being around all the time, just background talking or someone always wanting to watch movies or just hang out. As I've gotten older and moved away, I noticed I appreciate alone time and privacy more even though I actually live with my husband. More of a "he's at work, look at all the things I can do!" sense of it. I'd have people come stay as long as they'd like if honey would be okay with it. I like being around people I guess.

[Kelt]

Originally Posted by Orema

I love living alone. The perfect partnership for me would be for both of us to live on different sides of the park (or lake, or mountain). Spend a night or two at your place, a night or two at my place, then retreat to our own places to rejuvenate.

This can work really well. I had this for five years where we were a few miles across town. 3 nights a week together, 4 nights doing our own thing. It was perfect (for me). Ultimately she decided she wanted the white picket fence. I think you have to find the right style of introvert to match, extroverts tend to want the "on" all the time kind of set up. At least in my experience.

[*Anya*]

Back when I first wrote in this thread, I was still living alone.

I never hated it. Lonely sometimes: yes, of course.

Did I develop what could be called by some as weird behaviors living alone: yes.

On the other hand, I don't think the desire or need to live alone is weird or strange at all.

I am an introvert so learning to live with someone again has been a challenge in some ways.

When I met my GF, I slowly began to spend more nights at her house, until I really was not spending any at my own.

It was moving in-introvert style. My brand of introvert anyway.

I do miss living alone sometimes.

Those times that I really want and need to be in my own head; don't feel like making the bed or picking stuff up that I have strewn about; don't feel like doing the dishes or cooking (I used to live on Special K for dinner when I lived alone) etc.; then I miss living alone.

For example, my GF always is half-apologetic when she plays 18-holes on the weekend and then has a beer afterward with the 4-some she plays with. Her ex used to get mad when she did that.

I smile and say: "have a great time!" And I really mean it. She does not quite "get" that.

That is my time to put my PJ's on (even 2 in the afternoon), read a book, watch a B movie or just do nothing but listen to silence. That is heavenly to me.

Living with someone, even when you love them, can be a challenge. As can living alone.

Neither makes one weird. We are who we are.

[QueenofSmirks]

I LOVE living alone! I've been living alone for 13 years, and I love it! Some of my "quirky" living alone behaviors:
- I do laundry at all hours because I don't have to worry about waking anyone else.
-Sometimes I leave (non-perishable) groceries sitting in the bags on the kitchen counter because I feel too lazy to put them away at that moment.
-If I feel particularly frustrated about something, I may scold myself out loud to give myself a verbal ass kicking.
-I fold back the comforter to the other side of the bed so making the bed is easier in the morning.
-I sometimes use the other side of the bed as a temporary holding place for all the clothes I've just folded and haven't put away yet.

I'm sure there are many others!