Doing things alone isn’t sad. Waiting forever for someone to come with you is.

The sad part is not the solitude. It is the postponement, the way requiring company turns everything into something that waits on other people’s calendars and then never happens. Films, museums, a new place to eat, a trip on the train: most of these are completely fine alone, and a few are better, since you go at your own pace and leave when you like.

Think of the thing you have been waiting for somebody to be free for, and go this week by yourself. It is awkward for about four minutes, and after that it is just a thing you are doing.