It's Not Sad

It has never been my practise before to start writing a blog post with no title, no subject and pretty much no idea where it’s going to go. I would not choose to start doing this now, if it were not for the dark forces at work. Ok, there aren’t really any dark forces, I’ve just been watching a lot of Harry Potter (there can never be too much HP) - 8 movies in 2 days, which is not bad if I say so myself. Since we finished out exams on May 20^th, I have been dedicating a large portion of my time to chilling out, and why not? All I’m looking forward to is exam re-sits in August and more university in September [insert sad face here], so for now I plan to spend time doing what I love: crocheting a blanket, completing a 3000 piece jigsaw, watching movies. I’m planning a Lord of the Rings movie marathon this Friday if anyone wants to join me. I’m not bothering anyone, my mum doesn’t mind, so what’s the problem I hear you ask?

A certain person who shall remain nameless (it’s not Amanda or Kathleen) has been bugging me pretty much every day to write something on the blog. The problem, however, is that I haven’t done anything that I deem blog worthy, and therefore I have nothing to write. This person refuses to listen, and won’t accept my explanation, and so we arrive at the problem: what to write? It’s come to the point where I have to write something, anything, or say no in a very blunt way. It probably doesn’t help matters that I have a stubborn streak a mile wide when I’m told to do something I don’t want to. However, I rate friendship as slightly more important than an internet diary, and so here is my anything.  If you don’t like it I don’t really care, to be perfectly honest.  

3 chapters in, I have decided on a subject to discuss. I was almost tempted to write a one-line post and leave it at that, but I would not be happy with myself and the quality of my work. Therefore, I have decided to discuss doing activities alone, since it’s a subject that I think some people regard as a social taboo. I’m not talking about being alone constantly, and having to do everything by yourself, just sometimes, occasionally, choosing to be alone. First off, I would like to say, it’s not sad: hence the title of my post.  About 6 or 7 weeks ago, I went to see Scream 4 alone. I went into the cinema by myself and asked for one ticket. Be warned, you will get a few strange looks, and the ticket person will ask you if you only want the one ticket, but that’s pretty much the only downside. You can see the film you want to see, you don’t have to share your arm rests and you can sit wherever you want. Whoever said cinema was supposed to be a social activity anyway? You go there, to sit in absolute silence not even looking at your friends, and then you leave. Really social.  I admit that it’s fun to talk about the movie afterwards with your friends, but if you just want the fun element of actually watching a film, then going alone is fine. And if you are interested, the film was good. Not as good as Scream 1, but better than Scream 3. I for one did not predict the ending, despite whatever other people may claim they knew 20 minutes in or whatever.

Last week, also alone, I went to Regents Park for a walk. It was a spur of the moment thing, which really are the best kind of things. Just get up and go, no planning, no plans going horridly wrong. I got lost (it’s a big place) but it was ok, kind of like having an adventure, and then I got found again. I walked down the same walkway that is featured in the film The King’s Speech (really good, check it out) although it was much less foggy. I went to the inner circle of the park, a place I’ve never been before despite only living 20 minutes away, something which took all the navigational and map reading skills I possess and was totally worth it. I have to commend the gardeners there for their excellent work; some of the roses there were as big as my hand and incredibly beautiful. They were honestly unbelievably huge, so of course my camera decided to break. I saw some weird looking birds that I had to edge my way past, praying I wouldn’t get attacked; I wouldn’t miss not seeing them again, but it was all part of the experience. Then, on the way back, also on the spur of the moment, I decided to walk back to my house along the canal. It’s like a whole other world- people keep houseboats there, and on the walkway they have chairs and tables, lights and flower beds, it’s like entering a magical world when you walk down there.

Choosing to do activities alone that you would normally do with others is actually a very liberating experience, and if you haven’t done so already, I would recommend that you try it. When you go out alone, you do feel slightly self-conscious, but if you take two minutes to look around, you will suddenly notice that a lot of people are also out by themselves, and you’re not as weird as you feel. It’s not sad.

"I have to be alone very often. I'd be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That's how I refuel." – Audrey Hepburn

"I'm an introvert...I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky."- Audrey Hepburn

Unusually, I have decided to have two closing quotes as they both seem so relevant that I couldn’t pick 

just one.

Love, Lalita xxx