A Season for Staying In, A Season for Going Out

Up until a few weeks ago, I had really been in the mood to stay in. It was almost like I had been thrown into a going-out slump, where all I wanted to do was eat, sleep, and repeat. (Uh, is it just me, or does that sound like Galactus?)

Needless to say, doing nothing felt glorious. Spending weekend after weekend being lazy certainly felt like a reward after five long workdays. The lack of activity had slowly become something I looked forward to, too! Sometimes it was only Monday—but I was already looking forward to the weekend because I couldn’t wait to spend a whole day with Bed, my cool best friend.

While staying in and doing nothing on weekends had been THE moment for a few months, this unhealthy obsession with Bed, my cool best friend, had finally caught up with me. I felt empty and unfulfilled. Bed suddenly seemed revolting. Its foam and comfort layers had slowly lost their charm.

I had seen its true colors, and I didn’t like what I saw.

I didn’t understand this feeling at first. “What is going on with me and this so-called emptiness?” I wondered. I had been spending a lot of my free time alone and with my boyfriend—and I loved every second of it. It made no sense to me that I suddenly felt unfulfilled.

And then it hit me. This emptiness and unfulfillment I felt weren’t the result of staying in too much. It didn’t come from Bed, my cool best friend, either. It was the lack of real friends’ company that actually caused it. (No offense, Bed.)

After discovering the root cause, more realizations slowly came to me. I may love spending time with my boyfriend. I may also enjoy my share of me-time sessions. But that shouldn’t make me forget the fact that I’m still a human being who needs to socialize! No matter how futile it might seem, I still need that sense of belonging to a community.

P.S. I’m not talking about interacting with a mere workmate. I’m talking about a genuine connection often found in friendships.

These past few weeks, I’ve been dividing my time between my boyfriend, my friends, and myself—and it has become one of the best decisions I have ever made. There’s a season for staying in, but there’s also one for going out. May this season become more colorful and filled with much laughter.

Photo dump moment incoming…

If you like this post, you might also enjoy Friends Might Leave Netflix, But It Won’t Leave My Heart and Bagel Coffee Company: The Spot Where I Balanced My Introvert Social Swings.