Alone, yes - lonely, never
One of the things that have been the hardest for me after getting married is the lack of alone time I have. I've always loved to live by myself, to be alone with my thoughts and the silence around the house, so to go from this to living with someone 24/7, has been a long way. I have to admit, I miss being by myself.
My husband travels for work from time to time and I end up using these opportunities as a vacation almost. I pay attention to the noises of the house, I watch all my trashy tv shows, read, meditate, take naps on the couch with the cats... For a few days, it's nice to have the whole house with no one else.
See, my husband works from home, so he has his office as his piece of the house. It's where he makes his mess, where he can spend some unwind time as needed (in addition to the couch with video game). I, on the other hand, don't have a space just for myself... Actually, let me rephrase that - I, on the other hand, didn't have a space for myself, but this is being solved and I don't have enough words to tell you how happy I am!
Yup, I don't need much to be happy. A place where I can hide on a crazy day and enjoy the silence and an incense is enough. So I decided to create my meditation spot on an extra room we have upstairs. It's a room that has been completely finished, but doesn't have an AC installation... Don't ask me why. It's a big room, we've been using it as part holiday closet, part luggage closet and part extra guest room (on nice weather months), but now, I've taken its most comfy corner (next to the window and power plug for a fan/portable AC) and have been transforming it into my "zen cave".
It still has a long way to go until it gets where I want it to, but it's getting there. I've been enjoying searching on Amazon and Etsy (I can easily spend hours of my day on Etsy) looking for things to make it my own. So far I've already have a small personal altar, to put my incenses, crystals and candles (crystal and candles yet to be purchased) and my meditation pillow. I also have to hang my Buddhist prayer flags, but I still haven't figured out how I want it to look. I've also ordered a small area rug, 5ft x 3ft to make it a bit nicer and not to have everything straight on the floor, but I'll have to wait a few days until it arrives.
As soon as it gets in shape, I'll post a picture of it... I'm looking forward to having it ready, so I can have a quiet place to go when I wake up and start my morning ritual and to be able to focus while I'm reading the cards.
By myself. Alone. But not lonely.