Showing desire, in a real way...

[Kettricken]

Dom ....

Nonsense.

I hear what you're saying .... you should feel confident enough in your preferences to pursue whatever you wish without needing privacy.

However.

Maybe (on my part anyway) this is an only-child thing .... but there is a vibe to being alone with yourself and content in your own company that you just can't get with someone else knocking around, even if they're not up in your face. It's not that you want to become a hermit or don't truly enjoy being in the company of others. That's apples and oranges. But you just can't fully get that communion with just yourself and God/the universe/nature/Jane Austen flicks/whatever unless you're BY yourself.

Personally, people who *never* seem to need or even be able to tolerate that kind of alone time puzzle me .... I wonder how they can have a strong independent core sense of self if they're uncomfortable spending time with themselves.

ETA: It's not that I think anyone has a *problem* if they don't like/enjoy alone time ....different strokes ... but by the same token, to imply that one who craves alone time is anti-social and needs to "work on themselves" is pretty seriously missing the boat, IMHO.