Alone...

"We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone." ~Orson Welles

Alone time is something I need just as much as air, or water, or food. It nourishes me in a way that nothing else can and without this nourishment, I start to shut down. I need moments where my thoughts and actions are my own, without interruption. I have always been this way. As a child I would spend hours in my room alone, allowing myself to play out a multitude of imaginative scenarios. It was my way of exploring the world, its possibilities, and what they meant to me. I think that alone time allows me that same internal process today; a means of breaking down what's going on in my life and how I feel about it all.

I enjoy my own company {sometimes I think too much!}. It both worries me and pleases me that I could most likely spend days on end alone in my house without running out of things to do or feeling the need to connect with another human being. Perhaps I only feel that way because in my house, I am almost never alone. But I often dream of days where it would be only me, free to move about at my own whimsy.

These days, my alone time comes in very tiny, and sometimes obscure pockets. Some days, I'm lucky enough to get outside for a while with my camera, or spend some time up in my craft room. But most days, I must utilize every minute alone that I can muster...showers, trips to the grocery store, the ten minutes while my husband bathes the kids. On really long, tough days, these moments may happen while watching a sunset during dinner making...with chaos all around me. Wherever, whenever, and however short, these moments are crucial to my emotional balance and well being. These moments are so important to me that I have been known to become quite irate when naps are not taken and I get totally deprived of any amount "me time" in the day. But I know that having some moments of solitude and peace make me a better mommy; a better person overall.

I use these moments, however infrequent, to check in; to see where I am emotionally, what in the balance needs tweaking, and what direction I need to head next. Without them, I am truly lost. In these moments I read, I write, I scour the Internet for inspiration, I take or process pictures, I craft, I pray...sometimes I just breathe. I love it.

So, tell me...how do you carve out minutes for you and what's your favorite way to spend them?