Hello Everyone,

Welcome to The Invisible Vision Project’s Blog.

It’s with great excitement that I write this blog because, it’s kind of hard to believe that it’s been officially 5 years since I’ve been living independently on my own. I think, this is quite an achievement, so I wanted to write this blog to share the story with you today. So, the story goes like this:

In late October of 2014, I made a brave decision to move out of a shared accommodation, due to getting sick and tired of the dramas and events that I experienced living with other people, from over the years. I moved out of that shared apartment on October 26, 2014. My decisions to live completely on my own were mainly because, I was having some anxiety associated with living with people that weren’t considerate; along with some minor arguments. I was having a difficult time dealing with shared space issues. But more importantly, I was dealing with some health issues at the time, and I just felt the need to have a space of my own, and a place where I can truly call home. Now, it’s been 5 years since I moved out of shared accommodation, for the most part, it’s been a very good experience. I felt and still feel that it’s the right decision. So, in celebrating this achievement, I’ve decided to highlight 5 things (both the good and the bad) that’s associated with living independently alone (please keep in mind, this is only my experience).

The Freedom:

It just feels freeing to be able to live alone. There’s no question about that. it’s freeing because, my routine won’t get disrupted by other people, because there’s no one there to disrupt it. For instance, for simple things like, I get to decide when I want to cook, or when I want to shower. I don’t have to wait for other people. Of course, I still have neighbors, and I’m well aware of that. But, in my own space, I get to make decisions and that’s important to me.

The Loneliness:

With the freedom of living completely alone, there also comes with the loneliness. I won’t lie, it can get lonely sometimes to live alone; especially since I don’t own any pets, and can’t have any, mainly for health reasons. Sometimes, it can get quite empty; for instance, during down mental health days, or especially, on days when I’m sick and can hardly take care of myself. Those are the moments where I do wish to live with someone. Now, I also wanted to mention, living with someone doesn’t mean they’ll be willing to take care of you. As mentioned, one of my reasons to move out of shared accommodation was because of roommate issues; and part of it, was because we weren’t really friends, so having them didn’t really help, because they weren’t there for me when I needed help, and it’s almost the same as not having them at all (sorry for being a little blunt here).

The Price (a.k.a. Rent):

Another downside of living alone is the price, which is the rent. Living alone can be really expensive. Here, I wanted to emphasize, when I first moved out, I didn’t have a lot financially, but I did have enough to pay for almost everything, and I’ve had a little bit of help from people as well. And not to mention, rent increase is a REAL thing and it’s crazy! Again, I feel very fortunate that with my financial situation, I’m able to live on my own.

The Comfort:

After I discussed the freedom of living independently, I’ll also add the comfort. It’s comfortable to live alone, because I get to create my own living space, a space however big or small, where I can call home. There’re so many quotes about home, one particular one that I liked a lot is: “Home is where your story begins” and I believe that, because after I established my home, my life changed, in so many ways.

The Independence:

In my opinion, living alone could really train one’s independence, and even one’s management skills. This can be seen on how well one manages one’s own living space. After all, with living alone, there’s no one there to help me with tidying or cleaning up, and I just have to do it all by myself, and I don’t even ever consider myself a messy person. As much as being independent is good and important, sometimes, it can be difficult, if you are like me, living with a visual impairment and with chronic illness. It can even be unsafe. Because let’s be real, if something emergency happened (which it had happened to me before), there’s no one there to help me, or worse, to call for help. But thankful, I’m learning to be better at calling the emergency for assistance if needed, and I do have people close by that I can count on for help, in case of emergency.

Hence, this concludes today’s blog on 5 Years of Living Independently Alone. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it. Before closing, here are some questions for my readers: Are you also living alone? Are you a person with disabilities/chronic illness that lives alone? What is your experience? Let’s have a chat in the comment section down below!

Thank you for reading to the end!

By: The Invisible Vision Project