Friday, March 4, 2016

SOLSC '16 Day Four: An introvert's birthday wish

Do you ever just want to be left alone?

Two or three times a year, I start to crave solitude.  Away-from-my-home, apart-from-people-I-know, wanting-to-get-lost-in-a-crowd alone time.

These cravings are not spurred by frustration or anger.  I am as grateful as ever for my loving family and friends and fabulous job and colleagues.  I think it's a matter of delayed sensory overload, or maybe performance exhaustion, the kind Broadway folks get after a hit show runs eight times a week for a year.

My wonderful, fellow Piscean husband gets this.  So when I asked for some time alone in a hotel for a birthday gift (again), he not only granted it, he made the reservations.  His first inclination was to put me up in a beautiful hotel in the middle of an upscale shopping center nearby, but I knew that locale would only lead to a binge purchase at Barnes and Noble and several other stores.

No, this time I didn't want my weekend sabbatical to be about shopping.  It's a "big" birthday, and I have a lot of thinking and writing and reading to do.  So I'm not going far--just around the corner from my neighborhood--but distanced enough from laundry piles and dirty dishes and others' comings and goings.

This would-be hermit still wants to celebrate the occasion.  Singing "Happy Birthday" to oneself sounds glum, so my family will be joining me for dinner in the middle of my self-imposed retreat.  Then it's back to the hotel, alone with my thoughts.

I wonder what my Slices will be like this weekend? 

14 comments:

  1. What an awesome idea. I love it. I understand why you asked for this as a present. I think everyone deserves a night in a hotel to think, ruminate, and get ourselves together.

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    1. And he's given me two nights! The last time he gave me this gift, I saved it until summer and stayed out of town, just 45 minutes up the highway. Didn't feel the need to go far this weekend. :-)

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  2. I've done this. I love to hear that you are doing it. People say it's weird but I need it. I am never alone and I need to be. Have a wonderful weekend. Happiest of birthdays. I, for one, am glad you were born.

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    1. Every woman I've shared this with has wished for the same, thinks it's a great idea. I'm glad to know you've done it, too! Thank you for the kind birthday wishes to start off my weekend.

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  3. Fantastic idea! I've been trying to decide what to do on my big birthday day this month...I joked out loud that I'd like to get away by myself, but I think my family was a little hurt that I wanted alone time without them. I nixed the idea, but it does sound delicious.

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    1. You could still ask for it as a gift, and take it later. The first time I did, I waited until summer, and went a bit out of town. It is really rejuvenating, great for creativity!

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  4. Very Nice! It is great to have time to reflect and be quiet! Enjoy!

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    1. Thank you, Joanne! I slept so well last night. Looking forward to the day ahead.

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  5. This is a genius idea, as my sixth graders would say. Enjoy!

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    1. Thanks, Tara! I was inspired by Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book, A Gift from the Sea. Would love to take sabbaticals like she did, oceanside!

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  6. Enjoy yourself. Wondering if you are an only child? (I am) I just flew to Florida by myself and my colleague asked me if I minded traveling alone. I didn't even realize it was out of the norm.

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    1. Nope, not an only child, but the eldest--and a dreamy, introverted Piscean who needs to recharge now and then from my extroverted day job.

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  7. Red Hawk, author of
    http://www.amazon.com/Sioux-Dog-Dance-Shunk-poetry/dp/0914946900
    anointed me, "She Who Gathers Strength in Solitude" - so you see, we ARE soul sisters, you and me.

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    1. Oh, wow....I LOVE that given name! And yes, I think I knew we were kindred spirits from the moment we first met across an ARD table. :-)

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