how i learned to enjoy my own company

there was a time when being alone felt like something i had to survive. i didn’t know what to do with the silence. i didn’t know how to keep myself entertained without someone else’s voice, someone else’s presence. for years, i used the busyness of life as proof that i was fine, that i was wanted, that i belonged. but underneath all of that noise, i was terrified of what it might mean to sit with myself, just me, without anything to perform for or run towards.

it took me a long time to realize that enjoying your own company isn’t a natural talent some people are born with. it’s something you learn, like cooking or writing or showing up for a friend. it’s a skill that asks you to see yourself differently — to stop treating your own presence like a placeholder until someone better arrives.

here are the things that helped me get there, the small but real shifts that made my own company not just tolerable, but something i look forward to.

1. i stopped waiting for “better plans” to make life feel worth living