New missions.

Along with moving back into my bedroom at my parents' house (the wiser choice during unpaid-but-you-can-still-pay-us-tuition student teaching semester), I'd like to work on one other thing:

How to be alone.

I'm decent at it in short stretches, days or so, mostly because I'm great at keeping myself entertained. Cleaning, reading, basking in the sun, working out with only my earbuds for company--these are things I'm pretty good at doing alone. What I'm worse at is keeping alone from transitioning into lonely.

Being alone and quiet gives me space to process the world; being alone and loud reminds me that I know how to amuse myself! Halfway through one of my last car trips, an Alanis CD found its way into my stereo, and I sang myself hoarse the rest of the way home. Having fun by myself is important, I think, if only to remember how much I like my own company, and that person, instead of anyone else I might be asked to become.