Walking Through an Empty House, Tears in My Eyes

Since buying my house four years ago, I’ve had three roommates (not including my cat, Cosmo). Somehow, I’ve managed to be out of town when all three ladies moved out. Today I returned from a week at the beach to a house with an empty bedroom, empty shelves, and an empty feeling.

Looking around at all the space, I am tempted to spread out. For example, there are now two empty shelves in my pantry. When I was unpacking food from my beach trip, I threw it on the empty shelves instead of trying to organize it. My last roommate kept some things on the kitchen counter and I’ve already found myself dumping things in those empty spots. With no one sharing the space, it will be easy to get lazy about tidying up.

It will be easy to get lazy about other things too. Being on vacation with my family this week showed me how accustomed I am to having my own space and doing my own thing. I don’t want the TV on, but my dad is watching CNN. More people in the house want to watch The Deadliest Catch than The Bachelorette. I have to wait to use the internet. If these simple things were challenging this week, after I’ve had a roommate for a while, how hard will they be when I’ve been completely on my own?

For me, the worrisome thing about living alone isn’t being lonely; it’s forgetting how to play well with others.