Women live alone in much greater numbers than ever too. According to OurWorldInData.org, approximately 7.8% of women ages 30-45, 18.6% of women 46-60, 31.8% of women 51-75, and 46.6% of women 76+ live alone. We can see being alone as being miserable and waste the time complaining and binge-ing. Or, we can see being alone as the gift of quiet time, as an opportunity to enjoy and appreciate our own company, and to get to know ourselves better. Psychotherapist Dr. Stephanie Dowrick, in her best-selling book “Intimacy and Solitude,” calls it “welcoming time with your own self as you might welcome time with a friend.”