PARTY OF one
I am alone in Paris, for work. Laughter and snatches of chat waft up from the narrow cobbled street, as people exit the elegant sushi bar opposite my hotel. I’m minutes from the Jardin du Palais Royal. The city is mine... yet I dine in my room on a squashed cheese sandwich that survived the journey from home. This is how I squander solitude.
Our relationship with being alone is complex. With busy work and family lives, many of us rarely have a moment to ourselves and yearn for tranquillity. But despite fantasising about peace and quiet, do we seek solitude? Would we go to the movies or to a restaurant without a companion? (Scoffing a sandwich or pastry at a lunch bar doesn’t count.) Do we even know how to be content in our own company?
THE LOST ART
According to travel writer Stephanie Rosenbloom, whose new book follows her quest to find joy in her own company, solitude is a lost art. She cites a succession of studies to