There is no such thing as being alone. There is the state of being without people. There is a state of being where the body does all it needs to exist and then there are the add ons that sustain it. To be truly alone one would need to be in a coma.
Thoreau was not alone, he had his surroundings. Hugs you are not alone, you have your surroundings. The difference is that he preferred the chatter of birds to the chatter of people. An introvert prefers their own company to that of others, this includes their own surroundings. A person can work in a busy store and be an introvert as can a person working at home still be an extrovert. Being in the wrong surroundings for your nature is where the problem comes in.
My happiness does not depend on having people around me. They are surroundings and in no way control me or cause stress if they are not there. I'm not anti social. They are there or they are not. I am more important to my existence than them yet they are a big part of my life. Just not all of it, like Thoreau I have other surroundings. He needed people to some extent or he would not have wrote.
Everyone needs to be noticed whether they be introvert or not, for some being noticed by a pet is enough most days with foray's into the land of people when it gets too quiet. This is me mostly. Others need to foray into the land of silence when their surroundings get to be too much even though they like the constant bustle of people. Either has the potential to cause stress and headaches. Finding that balance that expresses who you are is important. Who you are, not who you think you should be.
Some people need others to support them, and others don't. I think I need more people.
Author W. Muller in the book Sabbath quotes H.D. Thoreau who was happy with his solitude and wrote "...I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in a reverie, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, in undisturbed solitude and stillness, while the birds sang around. I grew in those season like corn in the night, and they were far better than any work of the hands would have been. The were not time subtracted from my life, but so much over and above my usual allowance".
On the other hand, the author W. Muller suggests for those who need people, "resolve to seek out those you love whenever you lose your way. One of the most precious gifts we can offer is to be a place of refuge, to be Sabbath for one another".
Has anyone experienced success with our without people?
