Being alone can become freedom once you stop interpreting it as rejection.

The same empty evening can be experienced as freedom or as evidence that nobody wanted you, and the difference is entirely interpretive. Once the second reading is dropped, the hours become genuinely yours: no negotiation, no accommodation, nothing to manage.

When you notice yourself reading solitude as rejection, ask whether the facts support that or whether it is a story arriving automatically. Then do something with the time that you actually want to do. The interpretation tends to follow the behaviour, and a well-used evening alone is hard to read as abandonment.