Things I learned living alone:

Some more useful than others...

That spiders usually disappear if you just leave them in the corner and go to bed.

That YouTube can teach you how to do almost anything.

That living with flatmates actually always required at least a little bit of effort, even if those flatmates were really, really good friends. There’s delicious freedom in not having to be considerate to anyone for short bursts of time.

That being alone takes strength, even if you don’t realise it.

That if a spider is bigger than your palm and/or in your bedroom, the first point on this list becomes void and you will have to call for assistance. Or spend the night in the spare room.

That even though the curtain pole you just put up is a bit off centre and you haven’t quite finished the details in the kitchen because everything is expensive, you will feel unspeakable pride looking around a room you decorated exactly how you wanted it. Bonus points if you took a risk. Bonus points if someone close to you couldn’t see the vision at first.

That it’s a lot easier to re-pressurise a boiler than you might think, but if you’re having to do it regularly, you’ve probably got a leak.

That it becomes so much easier to identify when somebody is the wrong person for you when you’re with them in a space that belongs to you wholly. They will not look entirely relaxed on your sofa. You will tidy up before they come over, even though it’s not that messy. They’ll put their drink on your new coffee table without a coaster and even though you and your mum and your friends do that all the time, you will think, I want you to leave.

That there are more types of insurance than you could ever possibly know or care about.

That time spent with other people will become more intentional. Especially hosting. Hosting will become your favourite thing.

That inevitably, you will trip over somewhere near the top of your stairs, remember you live alone, and start doing the mental calculations to work out how long it’d take someone to notice if you fell and broke your neck.

That, for a moment, you will feel slightly reassured because even if it took friends and family a couple of days, work would notice your absence and sound the alarm within a few hours.

That immediately after thinking this, you’ll realise work discovering your untimely death before your friends and family is a bit sad? You won’t dwell on this too much, but you will be slightly more careful near the stairs for a while.

That there’s always a reason to feel good about yourself. Most people split the effort, the bills, the cooking, the cleaning, the maintenance, and the worrying. If you’re doing it alone, by choice or by circumstance, you deserve to be proud of yourself for it.

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About The Content Girl

Opinions, insights, and the occasional marketing musing from a professional Content Writer giving writing in her own voice a go. You can expect:

• Commentary on pop-culture/regular culture and the like

• Insights/tips/information around professional Content Writing/Marketing and Digital Marketing

• Personal essays (I’ll try to make these not insufferable, I swear)

• Book reviews, recommendations, and roundups

• The odd piece of flash fiction

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