@StoicVanMan
Aaron Swartout
@StoicVanMan · 3:23

Alone vs. Lonely

article image placeholderUploaded by @StoicVanMan
But I've come to realize that that's neither here nor there in regards to my happiness inside. And that took a long time for me to understand. But I'm glad that I finally got into that place, realizing all I truly do need is a completeness inside of myself and no external person can provide that that's provided internally. I do a lot of reading of Stoicism and a lot of writing and journaling, and it's very freeing

#solovanlife #alone #dog

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@allowthesun
Chelsea Hanawalt
@allowthesun · 2:54
But I would love to hear more about the Van life. I'm always so curious with people who do that. I could totally see myself wanting to do that one day. I've always wanted to just do a lot more traveling. I love camping. I'm curious too. Have you connected with anybody, any other people doing the Van life? I'm living in the van. I know I'll have to invite you to
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@StoicVanMan
Aaron Swartout
@StoicVanMan · 1:31
Hi there and thank you for listening to my very first swell message. I really like what you had to share. And one of the things that I don't know what that Omega place is that you were talking about, but that sounds pretty cool. I actually spent a lot of time up in that part of the country. My home base is really northeastern Pennsylvania, and I spent a lot of time in New York and love it up there so much
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@allowthesun
Chelsea Hanawalt
@allowthesun · 0:56

https://www.eomega.org

Yeah, I love Update New York. Every time I go up there I'm like, whoa, I just discover new places and it's just so beautiful. Yeah. I highly recommend and checking out the Omega Institute. I'll put the link here. They always have a ton of workshops and events going on and it's a really beautiful campus
article image placeholderThe Omega Institute
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@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:42

@allowthesun @StoicVanMan

I should have come alone because it's just such a solo thing. Anyway, really happy to listen to this conversation and hear both of you and your journeys of this kind of personal expression. And I know a lot of people can relate, so thanks for adding this here
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@PKBriggs
Sontaia Briggs
@PKBriggs · 3:03

https://s.swell.life/STBzkMtaFPdZbmF

Anybody doesn't agree, it's okay. No judgment. No one completes me. I don't complete anybody. We are adding to each other's lives. That is the way I feel about that. Friendships, relationships, intimate stuff. You're adding to the person's life. I would hope I would hope they will be a complete individual when you meet them. I would hope that I would be complete when someone met me and if they chose to be with me
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@Bendi_G
Benedict Garrett
@Bendi_G · 4:57
But I've never been more happy than when I am alone. I find that I am the happiest when I'm alone. And as I was trying to say, I didn't get into a long term relationship, which then became a marriage because I craved a partnership. It was because I met somebody who I thought I had built a connection with and wanted to spend the rest of my life with. And, you know, I still love my wife
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@lwatsonjr
Lance Watson
@lwatsonjr · 4:03

@StoicVanMan: Welcome, and thank you…

One of the things that I've always envisioned doing was not quite the van, don't have quite that budget to do that, but an actual trailer on my vehicle, just sort of a small sleeper trailer and doing some cross country, some time alone to really just be with myself and to enjoy the exploration of self in different environments around different people in isolation. It's one of the things that I personally practice myself. I'm an INTJ and I'm a type five on the anagram
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@sophie_world
Sophie Sophia
@sophie_world · 1:09
You are surrounded with so many thoughts, people thought idea thoughts that you are not actually alone. So when you are alone, you will become relaxed and you will be thinking thinking inwards rather than being lonely. Where you think outwards, always outwards
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@zejacques
Jack .
@zejacques · 2:45
I've always wanted to own my own, but I've never had the chance to the opportunity to purchase one while it's on the pardes. But I really enjoyed hearing you speak on being alone versus lonely. I also many people that have replied really enjoy my alone time. It nourishes me. And this has been something consistent since I can remember. So since I was a child up until now. I'm a very social person, very extroverted in many ways
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@DanBruno
Dan Bruno
@DanBruno · 1:06
Hey, they are brand new to swell. I was fascinated by your post and the, you know, van life, travel life, doing it alone, it my life has changed a lot in the last couple of few years. My partner passed away and I've gotten used to being alone, not so much lonely. And I think a journey like that might be good for me. I'm concerned about how to make a living. Am I going to DoorDash around the country?
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@Wordsmith
Sreeja V
@Wordsmith · 1:00
Hi there, Aaron. I think you have sort of given us a preview into what it can be to truly find oneself. Right. I think we are our own company. At the end of the day, we came alone into the world, and we will be living alone. So everything else is Dan evolution, right, of company, people and things to keep you busy. And the whole feeling of being lonely is actually a myth
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@Marettaj
Maretta J
@Marettaj · 2:42
I've learned a lot about myself that I should have probably learned before being married. Imagine going from your parents house to a dorm room with a roommate to a husband. So I never had that time alone. I actually can't believe I'm sharing that feeling and that info because I'm very private. But that's the good thing about Swell, is that you're able to communicate and share feelings and you feel unjust. So I'm accepting that
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@FryedOreo
Dewuan .
@FryedOreo · 4:11

Alone in bliss.

But I have definitely been alone for a very long time and at times I can be lonely, but it's when I'm around people, I kind of am reminded that alone is kind of the life for me. But every now and then sharing it with others, sharing it with the community is worthwhile. And I have a question for you, Aaron, if you ever do plan to respond to this
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@Binati_Sheth
Binati Sheth
@Binati_Sheth · 4:53

@StoicVanMan

However, I think being alone and lonely is one of the best things ever because you're forced to you're compelled to spend time with your thoughts and you're compelled to spend time with just you alone. And I think given the choice, as human beings, we are very social by nature, so we won't really make that choice for ourselves, right? We won't really make that choice voluntarily unless something has happened. Dan experiment of sorts. We are conducting an experiment of sorts
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@sebc23
Sebastian Cahill
@sebc23 · 2:11

#alone #selfknowledge #beingalone

And so some fun things and I'm like enjoying hearing other people's experiences with this as well that I've been doing is taking myself out on dates and just kind of trying to reassociate being alone with a more pleasant experience for myself instead of something that has to feel really scary or big. Yeah, and it's really fun
article image placeholderUploaded by @sebc23
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@Freshslade
Michael Slade
@Freshslade · 5:00
It was hard for me to connect with myself when I saw myself that way. But when I started to view myself as somebody who cared about a lot of different things, who was a lot of different people with a lot of different opinions, I tried to love different parts of myself because I experienced them as different people altogether. And once I started to grow with myself like that, I healed
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@markbrooks
Mark Brooks
@markbrooks · 1:25
Hi, Aaron. Thank you for sharing. This is amazing, what you're going through, and I can completely I think empathize is the right word. I actually spent some time some years ago traveling around the USA in 26 foot RV, and it was also very freeing. I think the beauty of it is that you can decide on a particular day. If you're not happy with your particular environment, you can just up and leave
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@katiecal
Katie Callahan
@katiecal · 0:59
Hi. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I think that's really relatable, and I'm really glad that you found Swell. I totally relate to that in the sense of, like, I could be at a party or in a room full of people and and feel totally alone just because I feel like having quality connections with people is really what makes you feel less lonely rather than being physically around other people
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@Swell
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15

Welcome to Swell!

@nikkivaz
NIKKI VAZ
@nikkivaz · 0:01

@allowthesun

Hello?
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@cactuscloudsart
Serena Rios
@cactuscloudsart · 4:54

Sometimes i crave and dispise connection at the same time. Are we truly alone in nature? And pet talk.

And I remember when we had five pets at one point. Like there were charity cases from an old lady we knew who couldn't take care of her dog anymore and things like that. But as a child, there was a point that we had five dogs, and that wasn't usually the case, but several of our dogs got sick, and over a span of a year and a half, maybe, we lost everybody
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