solysium – n. the unhinged delirium of being alone for an extended period of time – feeling the hours stretch into days until a weird little culture begins to form inside your head, with its own superstitions and alternate histories and a half-mumbled dialect all your own – whose freewheeling absurdity feels oddly liberating but makes it that much harder to reacclimate to the structures and ambiguities of normal social life.
I don’t find myself alone too often. Not for an extended period of time. As an introvert, I like my alone time for sure, but I also like the energy of other people around. I just prefer some quiet times where no one is talking to me.
I don’t know that I develop solysium, with a culture in my head. I certainly game some interactions, or reply a conversation, usually wishing I’d said something smarter or wittier.
For me, I like the world, I like interacting with people and I appreciate the social structures I’m in. I am comfortable in a lot of US social situations, but I can find something fascinating or interesting when I’m in Italy or Germany or England or anywhere else. The differences, even if they’re not something I’d do or like, are amazing. They keep the world a special place.
From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows