In many ways, our culture has fostered an unhealthy relationship with time spent alone. Even the words that we use to describe alone time are often steeped in some kind of negative connotation. Solitude. Seclusion. Withdrawal. Loneliness.  Loneliness is especially telling: the etymology of the word is simply in the act of being alone, but the modern meaning and most common definitions refer to it as an unpleasant emotional state in which you desire the company of others, but for one reason or another can’t satisfy that desire. When we’re thinking of things that we want to do next Friday night, being “lonely” rarely finds its way to the top of the list. Fortunately, our relationship to loneliness is changing, and many of these terms and notions are being gradually replaced (or at least supplemented) with ideas that aren’t as negative: me-time, down-time, self-care, treating yourself, and decompressing. As our technology and culture have pushed us to be constantly connected to other peo