When thinking of someone who enjoys doing things alone, what words come to mind? Loner? Recluse? Mouse? Shrinking Violet? Hermit? All of the above? Or is there another term that you would use?
Unsurprisingly you associated these words with people who enjoy being alone. Human beings are seen as “social creatures”,  meaning that people are more likely to be around other people and thrive in public settings. People view wanting to spend time and share experiences with other people as natural.
So, those who sit alone when eating, go to the cinema alone, who commonly fit into the Introvert personality type, quite often gain pity of people around them for being “lonely” as they don’t fit into the “Social Creatures” of what humans are expected to be.
People who don’t fit the category of a “Social Creature” are quite often pitied for being “lonely”. Another thing which quite often happens is that people try to “fix” them for their love, sometimes need, of solitude. It is key to remember that this is through no fault of their own. Those who fear to be alone quite often project…