One thing no one warns us about as we embark on the path of self-discovery is this: The journey often involves leaving people behind.

People we are close to. People that we love.

Personally, I’ve found the problem with any kind of accelerated growth is that everything feels either deeply meaningful or supremely meaningless.

I’m going to venture a guess that many of us have been here:It’s Saturday night. Or perhaps its an arbitrary holiday…like, say, Valentine’s Day…?Your love life has gone the way of pay phones & fax machines…or sane leaders (missing you Obama! Sigh).  And all your go-to party people have made fabulous plans that somehow don’t include you.

Thus, you find yourself wandering towards your couch with the necessary provisions: A remote control and bong in one hand, and your favorite blanket, salty snacks and a vibrator in the other.

A while back I was sitting naked in a small sauna with 12 other hippies —as you do , ya know, in Portlandia— when the subject of drinking one’s own urine came up—as it does, ya know…nowhere else in the world…

Luckily, this wasn’t my first Bohemian rodeo, so I knew better than to ask if they were serious.  Not only were they serious, they were adamant.

Apparently – according to the Homeopath and the Natureopath- drinking one’s pee first thing in the morning provides anti-bodies which fight off illness and disease and miraculously cure all manner of ailments, from MS to psoriasis. 

I came to a realization: I actually really enjoyed being alone. It was easy. Not to mention familiar, comfortable and safe. I’ve come to identify as the independent single girl. In fact, I realized that I’d been wearing that identity like a badge of honor.