You can never be "alone" "with" someone.

I like quotes. Quotes from writers, artists, comedians, and even my friends. 

In high school, one of my friends pointed out that you can never be "alone" "with" someone. Is that deep? Absurd? I'm not sure, but her quote stuck with me for more than thirteen years. 

I've been thinking and writing today about being alone. My family isn't home today, and I've spent several hours alone. On my own terms. Such is a sweetness I rarely consume. 

So I slept late. Researched while I drank coffee. Watched Property Brothers while I ate plain pasta. Walked to work (on my day off) to see a student try on a Hemingway costume for a photo shoot this Friday. And sat (where I presently sit) in our library, trying to feed off of the creative ambiance as I wrote a chapter in a devotional book I'm working on and write this entry. 

Wouldn't you feel like writing if you sat where I sit?

Besides the quote from my high school pal, other things that come to mind when I think of the word "alone" are

• the ability to shower at an hour without the fear of waking a sleeping child,
• the freedom to watch an episode of The Nanny in bed while flipping through Pinterest on my phone,
• the chance to make plans with friends at any time without the mom-guilt of leaving family at home,
• the blessing of eating pasta for 2/3rds of my daily meals,
• and, of course, the giant hair, exploding pianos, and half-face veils in this music video.

Though I am sometimes (rarely...very very very rarely) alone, I am never lonely. God has “made known to me the paths of life” by filling me with joy in His presence (Psalm 16:11). Alone, but not abandoned, because I am always with Someone. 

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