Someone I look up to told me that people will come and go in your life, but the one person you can always count on is yourself and in order to be content in life you need to figure yourself out, I never understood what people meant by “figure yourself out” but they told me it’s about spending time with yourself and doing things you love.

Life can be hectic, we have bills to pay, deadlines to meet, and your brain can get cloudy with all the stress in your life but we shouldn’t dwell on that, at the end of the day we need to slow down and truly appreciate ourselves and do things we enjoy with no limits or extra added stress.

So many people relie on other people for their happiness and accomplishments, but we can’t hold ourselves back, sure we have close friends and want to spend time with them every chance we get but it’s important to spend time away from the people we love so we can really get to know who we are, what is that makes us unique? What hobbies bring us joy? It’s by spending quality time with ourselves and reflecting on the little things that will truly help us be more happy.

I have put together a list of things I like to do when I am alone. These are great ways that help me reconnect and ground myself, you don’t necessarily have to be doing spontaneous things in order to enjoy your company, often times it’s the small things we take for granted that help us discover who we are and by doing these activities it helps open your eyes to be more content in life.

1. Music: Music brings me the most joy, it’s a creative outlet for me to express my feelings whether It be writing songs based on events I have encountered or a strong emotion I am feeling or playing guitar to songs I already feel connected with. But if you don’t play or write music just jamming out to your favourite artists is a fun way to let loose and really listen to the melody or lyrics and understand why you like the song, is the song about something you’ve experienced? Reflect on that and you’ll have a deeper understanding with your own emotions or maybe you just enjoy the melody because it brings you joy and makes you feel free? Music is truly one of life’s greatest pleasures.

2. Journaling: 99% of the articles you’ll read about connecting with yourself will tell you to journal, why is that? It’s simple really, you’re writing about your feelings, journals are private and a way to have a conversation with yourself, sometimes you just need to let stuff off your chest you might be sad and not know why so grabbing a pen and paper and just writing opens that door in your mind that let’s you break down the issues, you could just be writing about your day and suddenly you’ll notice what the ‘trigger’ was for you or if you’re writing about your emotion you’ll start to get an understanding of it after reading your journal entry. Alternatively you could use your journal as a planner to feel more organized or track your feelings, journaling has endless options and sometimes it takes time to figure out which one works best for you! I love to alternate what my entries are about some days I might be feeling artsy and do a pretty bullet journal spread to reflect on my day just through drawings other times I want to write them out, just play around with it and see what works.

3. Outdoor Activity: Believe it or not I love being outside! Sure I spend most my time indoors at work or playing video games in my room but when its sunny outside I take full advantage and get out there! Vitamin D from the sun actually boosts your mood, the sounds of nature calm the mind and the cool breeze gives a reassuring feeling, I always make a point to take walks during my lunch breaks at work no matter the weather because I know nature is calming. Going on a walk without your headphones in is actually so therapeutic, make a point to clear your mind, relax, and just listen to the world around you, feel the grass on your feet, breath in the fresh cool air and let your mind wonder freely just take it all in. Even going on a bike ride or taking your skateboard out for a joy ride down hills with the wind in your hair and not a care in the world is such a fun ways to enjoy nature in a more active setting. But sometimes you just want to sit in a park and drink coffee while watching the animals and people around you living their lives.

4. Take yourself on a date: I know you must think this is weird but trust me! Taking yourself on a date is one of my favourite things to do when I want to enjoy my company, go to a restaurant alone and just watch the people around you, go to the movies and watch a movie alone and just enjoy it, you could even go do something wild like sky diving! Taking yourself out to do activates gives you the freedom to decide what you’re going to do, how long you will do it, and you don’t have to carry the stress of waiting on other people and making decision’s that everyone can agree on. This is a good opportunely to do you and experience things that make you happy.

5. Get Crafty: Arts and crafts is not just for kindergarteners, they make those colouring books for adults because it’s soothing. Maybe you’re not the most crafty person but that shouldn’t stop you from expressing yourself! Paint that picture, make the diy, sew something, draw, scrapbook, there are so many different ways to be crafty and it doesn’t matter if you’re good or bad at it the point is to have fun and express your feelings through the art. Maybe try something new and see where it takes you, the best part about crafts is that they’re fun and messy.

Those were just a couple of things I find work for me, the opportunities are truly endless though and you just have to get yourself out there to find the activates that bring you joy when you’re alone. Please be gentle with yourself and don’t add any pressure to be good at doing anything just take a step back and enjoy what life has to offer and focus on yourself.

xoxo Jaiden