Tales of Living Alone

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Story Time!

I’ve been feeling too lazy and frustrated to write this blog post, but hey, let’s do this, shall we? Grab your popcorn. Lol.

Living alone has always been a part of my bucket list, and finally, I ticked it. I began living alone as a student in February 2020. I was very nervous due to nyctophobia and entomophobia. Also, I was not ready for that kind of life.

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Living alone is really wonderful, but there are bad effects too. Let’s proceed…Depression! Depression! Depression! Depression hit me hard this year for a whole week. I was worried about my results, tests and exams. It was crazy! I felt unproductive during that period because I was very lazy and unmotivated to do anything. I was always in bed, either eating, or crying or worried about everything. I told no one except God. And, I think that’s because I was not ready for replies that could make me feel more depressed. Another reason I got depressed was because I fell out with my closest neighbor, who I usually gist and share all my worries with. For real I was shocked at how depressed I had become.

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Having terrible neighbors is the worst! I’m in tears. Do you know that this is the year I realized the possibility of having really terrible neighbors? I can’t count the number of times that I’ve said, I’m grateful for my old peaceful neighbors. Once, I told my neighbor that his loud music was disturbing me, and he should reduce the volume because I was experiencing a migraine. The young man told me that he won’t do it, he enjoys the loud music, and he even increased the volume. The younger brother of this same guy, stole from me. Meee?! Omo, I was shocked. I still can’t believe it.

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If I probably fell ill while staying in my apartment alone, they’ll be no one to take good care of me. I think living alone is really not safe. It actually depends on where and how you live. I’m careful how I live though where I live is secure, I’m always on alert with everything I do. Plus, it’s not advisable for people younger than 18 years to live alone in an unsafe environment, especially in university.

People are very problematic in this life, and I mean it. When you see them, you see problem. Having a terrible landlord/landlady is another bad effect of living alone because they will deal with you till you eventually want to pack out. My landlady’s daughter is a definition of problem. The young lady is very annoying 😭. She puts up a nonchalant attitude. She’s now in charge due to the health condition of her mum, the landlady. There’s so much discomfort with having terrible neighbors and Landlords.

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I hate the billing that comes with living alone. It’s financially draining! I have to buy everything with my money. Living alone is expensive. Did I add that my landlady’s daughter bills a lot? For instance; if there’s no water, she will ask us to contribute 200.00 or even 500.00 and if there’s problem with electricity, she will tell us to contribute money to fix it, this is not part of our rent. It’s so annoying. And even before the rent expires, she will start disturbing for early payment, or she’ll threaten to vacate the person if he/she does not adhere to her rules.

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One of the things I hate about living alone, is seeing insects or tiny animals in my apartment and having to kill it by myself. I have seen cockroach (they’ve built house in my kitchen 😭💔), spider, wall gecko, rat and lizard. Again, I’m crying. It’s actually because my apartment is built with a gutter in front of my room and also the refuse and sewage area is beside my apartment. So, the insects have easy access into my apartment. I can’t wait to move out! But I’m really going to miss living alone in my apartment.

The area that’s really been affected, would be my career. Everyday, for the last few months, I’ve felt unmotivated, lazy and distracted towards my studies and career as a whole. Honestly, I rarely used to attend lectures and even tutorials. It’s that bad. It was hard for me to study and read. Apart from the distraction from the loud music played by my neighbors, I felt very frustrated to do any work. I just used to eat, sleep and surf the net, especially when depression hits. I really don’t like cooking 😩😫 but it’s compulsory for a student like me, who lives in an apartment. Choosing what to eat every day as a student is honestly a tiring task.

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Nevertheless, it’s great living alone 😌. The peace of mind that comes with living alone is everything! No argument. No unnecessary problems. Living just as you want. I love it!!

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Although, I think living alone makes me feel more like an introvert and boring too, but I love it anyways. I get to express myself however I please.

Living alone is stress-free! Whew! Although, I do arrange and clean up my apartment every weekend 😩. Along the line, I got to know one of my neighbors, we used to be helpful to each other, and he actually made living alone easier and better for me. It’s lovely having good neighbors.

Living alone has taught me Money Management. No Cap! I’ve learned how to save my money and also spend my money cautiously. Also, everything in my apartment is mine and it enables me to manage my things. Living alone has helped spiritually because I get to spend more time with God and express myself just as I want during prayers.

Living alone has made me more independent and self-reliant.

Structuring my day and week with routines have really helped me for the past months that I’ve lived alone. It makes me feel busy, motivated and at ease but sincerely, if I don’t accomplish the set plans, or I don’t follow it up, I feel unproductive and get depressed. To overcome depression and overthinking, I sing, watch TV shows and movies, laugh, exercise, eat, sleep, pray, practice TED TALK and SELF-CARE (I have an app titled “I AM” that guides me through).

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Living alone comes with having time to meditate, rest as much as you want and eat as much you want (you get to cook and eat whatever you like), which I love so much ☺.

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Because you live alone does not mean you should stay in your room for a whole day. Always take yourself out. Get a book, journalize daily or weekly. For safety, pray every day because God is the chief security. You can also get Citizen app or other good rated Safety apps which will be useful to you.

Don’t forget to socialize. It’s very necessary, especially for students living alone in the university. It’s fun when you get to connect with people around you, who can help with the little things and make life more beautiful for you.

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For now, I would love to take a break from living on my own because I feel it has become a problem for me. And I just want to live a happy, enjoyable and problem free life. So help me, God. Amen.

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