Being alone at home for an extended period of time is something I always dreaded. I managed to avoid it for 24 years and then bham! It hit me like a truck on my face. My room-mate went abroad for three weeks and I had to face the monsters under the bed all on my own. I expected the three weeks to be terrible. I put up a count down of days. Andddd..... The three weeks weren't too bad.
The days were jam packed with work and fortunately I had to spend only half the day alone. Here's what I did for approximately 18 days (nights actually).
1. Visit Friends : After having been in Singapore for three years, I had made quite a number of friends. Yet I kept meeting the same group as it was just more convenient. Not having my roomie and friends around made me get up and go out to visit some of my other friends.
2. Play Host: My friends from college and my relatives happened to be visiting Singapore and I took the opportunity to host them and play tourist guide. I got to invite them home and cooked for them. That way, I got to play host and also got some company.
3. Paint Away : I bought a few jars of acrylic paint and a few t-shirts from the thrift store. I painted them to my hearts content. Time seemed to blissfully fly when I was painting t-shirts.
4. Scrub and Shine : The lines between the tiles were filed with grime and I just wanted to see them go away. A brush, a bottle of floor cleaner, a mop and a bucket of water and a whole night was all that I needed to clean the kitchen floor.
5. Educational Trip to Sheng Siong : Sheng Siong is one of Singapore's most popular departmental stores. It stocks a lot of stuff starting from vegetables to household electronics. Until the last week, I had no clue about the variety of things Sheng Siong had. Instead of running in and grabbing some groceries, I spent a little time looking at the racks, searching the ingredients and picking the best choice.
6. Cook : I am someone who loves to cook for people and abhor cooking something elaborate for myself. Playing host to my friends nudged me to search Sheng Siong and Google and whip up some recipes.
LESSONS I LEARNT:
1. People will come and go and it is up to each person to make their life worthwhile.
2. Never hang around with a single group of people. Make friends everywhere. It will help you and you can help them with your networks when the need arises.
3. Always have time for your passions. They will give you a sense of achievement.
4. Keep your family and a few friends close. They are the ones you can annoy without the fear of losing them.
5. Learn to embrace loneliness. It is perhaps the only companion you will have for life.
