There is a solitude that impoverishes and one that enriches. The one that impoverishes is solitude endured, born of emptiness and boredom. The one that enriches is solitude chosen, sister to freedom and discovery. The paradox is that only by experiencing the second do we stop fearing the first. When we learn to see our own company not as a last resort, but as fertile ground, we stop asking the impossible from relationships: to be our only source of meaning. The other ceases to be a lifebuoy and becomes a travel companion.