By Nate Feldman
What’s it like to be alone at the holidays? Well, it’s hard to say the least. This is especially true because the holiday
season is constantly promoted as a time of family and gathering with
friends. But, what if you have neither
of those?
There was once that song by Simon and Garfunkel
called, “A Most Peculiar Man,” which talked about a guy who lived by himself
who eventually gassed himself to death.
That’s an old song now, but there are many people in that exact
situation. They are alone with no
connection to the outside world.
Many people would argue that those people need to get
out of their shell and make efforts to connect to the outside world. That may be true in some cases. There are people who end up alone simply
because they won’t try to meet others.
However, this is easier said than done. Some people have certain social anxieties or
conditions (I refuse to call them disorders) which make it very, very difficult
to build relationships the way that those with better social skills can. I know there are people who have made great
efforts to build relationships with others only to find themselves alone.
So, going back to the topic at hand, what should
someone who is alone at the holiday season do to solve this problem? I will say something radical here. If they want to find people, then attend a
public social group through something like the Meetup App or go to a religious
service of some kind. Even if they don’t
find lifelong friends, they’ll make a connection. But, that’s not the radical part. The radical part is to embrace it. By it, I mean being on your own.
