Solitude

Thinking about my 'Net pal Scoot's "post-partum depression" post. I left a comment that includes a comment about my own reclusiveness. I can be very good with people, but it's a learned thing -- the demands of a high-level job that involved a lot of contact with high-level clients. It's not natural -- it takes a lot of energy and leaves me exhausted. My idea of a great party is no more than six people for dinner.

The holiday season gets -- I won't say hard, because lack of company is not something that bothers me usually. I just think that at what I call festival times there's a natural impulse to gather in groups -- that's when a sense of community becomes more important. So I go to favorite hangouts -- being me, I go to a bar and make friends with the staff, not the customers -- where I feel comfortable, and they know I don't like to talk. (Amazing, but true. Actually, I'll talk your ear off, but you have to push one of my buttons -- the history of science fiction, or evolutionary biology, or orchids, or something like that. Small talk doesn't do it.) Unless it's a matter of hanging out with a couple of close friends, I'd rather be among people than with them, if you understand what I mean.

So, for all the recluses out there, if you find yourself hungry for human companionship, throw a party. Or go shopping, if you don't want to talk to anyone.