Living Alone and Loving It Quotes

“Living alone provides the guardrails of friends and inner autonomy as insurance against losing oneself in that first delirium of infatuation and prematurely surrendering to a relationship you might later regret.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Cultivate positive, active people with enthusiastic natures who regard life as a gift whether one is partnered or single. Remember, attitudes are contagious.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Try to understand the underlying causes of mentally attacking yourself. This might be done with a therapist, a friend or by self-examination in a journal. The loss of a reassuring relationship may trigger negativity that has been lying dormant for years. It is important to discover its origins—perhaps in childhood—to diminish its power in your adult life. To avoid reinforcing those negative thoughts, try to “simply stop” them as they rise up to plague you. Meditation is an excellent method. By focusing your attention on your breath or an object, you can begin to gently dismiss disturbing thoughts as they arise. Another exercise is to practice looking at each negative issue from different angles and list several different ways of viewing it.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Living on one's own is not always ideal - but then, neither is marriage. The mated format is charted territory. Those venturing into singlehood are the Lewis and Clarks of a pioneering lifestyle with few maps, unexpected ambushes, and an infinity of adventures. Therein lies its glory!”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“It’s unrealistic to expect to be completely accepted and understood in life.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“I sat down with paper and pen and just wrote, recklessly, without judgment, without spell-check. It was like going deliciously mad on the page! Where did these feelings come from? Who was feeling them? Who was writing such odd thoughts and images? Each time I surfaced I came back with a strange creature I treasured. Whether the world would equally treasure my captives wasn’t important; they were mine and I welcomed them home like family.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“When we live alone time and freedom are at the service of our muse in a way that artists in a relationship might envy.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Wings unclipped, there was only me playing with empty space that kneeled to my will.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Our surroundings compose a portrait of who we are, what we value and what we think of ourselves”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Try not to worry about what others will think—you alone are inside your soul and know what will bring you the greatest satisfaction and make you feel fully alive. Be acutely aware of the things you enjoy and have always wanted to do. Don’t dismiss an interest because you think it’s too late to start. Remember, Socrates wanted to learn to play the lyre three days before his execution!”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Know your enemy as though you are planning for an invasion; determine when and where they are likely to attack and be ready to refute their messages.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Don’t depend on a partner for your self-esteem. Never give away your value to someone else.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Let go of the idea that someone else can make your life wonderful. Your happiness is in your own hands; that’s the safest place for it.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Stop believing that marriage is the solution to loneliness. It is easier to jettison this idea if you’ve been half of a failed couple and can remember the pain of daily alienation. Seeking escape from loneliness is a dangerous reason to be coupled. It’s best to solve the loneliness issue on your own as insurance against dragging it into a future relationship. Create an environment of social and self-support that can protect you from forming inappropriate relationships based solely on need.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“REMEMBER THAT BEING BY ONESELF IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING ABANDONED. THE WORLD IS STILL THERE.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“(we believe there is something essential we don’t have that’s obtainable. what we long for doesn’t exist, not anywhere. the ache is in the belief)”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“The emotional excess of music felt more real than the muted emotion and soft demeanor I expressed in daily life. When I was this passionately engaged I didn't need anything else to "complete" me; not a man, not a career affirmation. I only had to give in to the music to live an immense life that I could experience any time I chose.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“At every place and time throughout your life,
take frankly what that place and time
can give you, and think of its limitation
as advantage rather than harm. —JOHN RUSKIN”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Develop the habit of reaching in. It’s a way to come home to ourselves, to be whole. Those who consistently express themselves feel homesick if, from time to time, they are unable to.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Don’t judge your creation. Accept it with gratitude. What we express is a valuable part of ourselves and worthy of our respect.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Be reckless. What’s the worst that can happen? We’re hoping to be surprised by some unrestrained part of ourselves that can’t be expressed in our ordinary lives. The discoveries we’re after can only surprise us when we’re ready to accept whatever we uncover.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“A writer once commented that after he was left alone for long periods of time he felt larger than before”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“When the Little Prince asks the Fox how they can become friends he says if they sit in silence at opposite ends of a field every day, after a long time they will be friends.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“The Storm Pages became my route to self-revelation. In them I experienced events of the day in slow motion, more powerfully in retrospect than I could as they whizzed by in real time. I dared to be truthful, to record not what I wished I had felt but what I, in truth, actually did feel. Writing had become a way of honoring my authentic selves.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Whether it’s that first mark with a brush on a canvas or pencil to paper, boldly make it and then let yourself free-fall. Art creates art.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“many of us cower at the edge of that psychological boundary and abort our soul’s adventure.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“An artist produces for the liberation of his soul
If he is successful, in the end, he will draw
a complete picture of himself. —SOMERSET MAUGHAM”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“Open an IRA to shelter some of your income. This is a fine way to build a nest egg for the future.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“This is your space to do with as you please, a playground where you can create the game with all its rules without compromise—one of the perks of living alone.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It

“It’s better to be rid of them than to have to fight off unpleasant memories.”
― Barbara Feldon, Living Alone and Loving It