I am someone who loves alone time. I have never had a problem occupying myself and in fact, I down right enjoy my own company. I believe people need time to themselves, or perhaps that’s just me, but I also think it’s good to get out in the world and do things alone, without others you know. Is there not a correlation between confidence and the ability to be and act alone?

Today, I decided to test this a bit. I went into a local Mexican restaurant to have dinner, all by myself. This is something I have done before but not something I do terribly often. It takes a completely secure person to be able to do it and I like testing myself. It forces me to leave my head and partake in the world around me without the comfort blanket of a companion. It teaches me to stand on my own two feet around anyone and also to embrace the solitude of being a human amongst other humans.

So, today, I walked into a Mexican restaurant near my home and sat at the bar alone. Lo and behold, the place was having an amazing happy hour so I ordered a glass of their house Pinot Noir and proceeded to look over the menu before deciding on a chicken quesadilla and taco. I took out my phone to check messages and emails but the gentleman next to me started talking about the restaurant’s great margaritas. I don’t like tequila, and told him that, so he dropped it and moved on to talking about the election tomorrow. I told him I had worked on Ron Paul’s campaign and am a Libertarian more than anything else, letting him know I don’t like either candidate. He expressed his respect for Ron Paul, (something many people do in a way I have yet to see anyone do for any another candidate!) and then he moved on to talking about why he’s going to vote for Obama. Some other patrons at the bar started talking about the measure that’s up for vote for porn stars, to implement mandatory permits for testing and such. It became an interesting conversation and I was enjoying myself. I learned the gentleman sitting next to me was a scientist who went to MIT and had actually invented some method to convert energy into light for wireless communication.  By the end of my meal and conversation, I had given my card to a potential film investor, who had asked for it after I asked if he would ever be interested in financing a film.

All in all, it was a great dinner “alone”. Try it sometime. You never know what could happen…