I'm not sure if I'd say I
prefer alone time, but it's definitely what I'm used to. I was a latch-key kid since my parents divorced when I three years old and my mother was always working, so there was a lot of fending for myself involved in growing up (especially with an older brother who was just older enough to be a bully, rather than being a helpful role model; it is
extremely arguable whether or not that came later after we both grew up a bit
). Looking back, I am very glad things worked out this way. To think there are teenagers and young adults in their twenties who can't handle basic life tasks like doing laundry, washing dishes, cooking basic meals, attending to their own medical needs, etc. (and there really are; I've met more than a few) makes me less than optimistic about our future as a species/society.
Anyway. probably because of this background I've been told I'm rather aloof and can sometimes be difficult to talk to. A danger of being alone
too much is that you can become kind of feral, adopting weird sleeping/eating patterns, talking to yourself even when others are around, being extremely set in doing things a certain way, etc. None of that is very conducive to having healthy relationships, so I try to get out enough to at least keep my social skills up to a level whereby I don't
think I would scare others away were they interested in getting to know me (or if I would, they'd tell me "You're being weird; stop"). But you'd have to ask them how well that goes. I have had a recent ex who continues to call me despite having a very good relationship with her current boyfriend, just because she says I'm fun to talk to. Familiarity and all, I guess (we've known each other for over a dozen years by now, and helped each other through deaths of family members, cancer, broken marriages, etc.; we just don't work
as a couple). But as far as being single vs. having someone around...I've had both, and I think the results are about evenly split. The advantages to having someone is basically avoiding being in your own head all the time, which is nice, while being single allows for more personal growth because you can just do things for you, according to your own goals, etc. and you don't have to consider how it would effect someone else. Or, alternatively, you can give up and become a sweatpants-wearing, cheetoh dust-covered, basement-dwelling weirdo. It really is your choice. That's what makes life worth living. I'm trying to go to the gym and all that for unrelated reasons (I already don't dwell in a basement, and have never liked cheetohs, don't own a fedora or call anyone "m'lady", etc.), but we'll see how that goes...
So I dunno. I'm alone a lot, not necessarily by choice, and I've never really considered that it should be otherwise. If/when I do find someone new, hopefully it will be with a new outlook and a new set of circumstances, as I don't know that my personal situation right now really fits in with whatever someone else has going on (e.g., I live in a very small apartment in a not-great part of town, I don't have a lot of money, I have a lot of health problems, etc. So basically, lots and lots to work on, just like anyone).