Solitude. You need it, I need it, everyone needs it. But we as introverts crave and celebrate it more than anything in this world.

What is solitude, and why is it so important to protect it? Solitude is what most people call “me-time”, but it is so much more than that to people like me and you. It is the precious opportunity to curl up with a good book, toss on some headphones and get away from the busy-ness of the world (basically, it’s a way to tell everyone to leave us alone so we can breathe!).

In today’s society, there is this crazy thought that everyone needs to be together all the time. But the truth is, we innovate so much better when we take a moment (or two, or three) to ourselves. It took me years to learn how to protect my solitude. And yes, I lost friends and things that I thought were important, but in the end, my quality of life outweighed the stress of trying to be “on” all the time.