This form of solitude, the duration of which can be determined by your personal need, can offer notable benefits, such as promoting mental and emotional calmness, which enables us to be more focused and productive.

Blocking out everyday distractions allows us greater insight into our inner world and can make us deeply and genuinely happy. It can also boost our sense of identity and self-worth.

If you want to take the challenge to another level, you can venture into sexual solitude or celibacy for a specific period.

It can be surprisingly refreshing, as long as you do not allow the fear of being alone to overwhelm you. Don’t relate the idea of a solitary existence to solitary confinement. On the contrary, enjoying your own company is liberating; it frees you from conforming to societal standards and the expectations of others.

Very often when we mingle and interact with people, both socially and professionally, we tend to lose our true self as we try to fit in. This means we subject ourselves to daily happenings and activities that can sometimes be mundane and meaningless.

When we are alone, we are not playing a role for someone else, we are not someone else’s wife, girlfriend, husband, father, or mother, and we get to reclaim ourselves by being us again, albeit just temporarily.

Being alone adds value to ourselves; it allows us to sharpen our senses so that we get to learn how to better manage ourselves and our emotions and also how to better manage our relationships with others and hence live a more meaningful life.

When you have learned to appreciate yourself, you will enjoy life to its fullest and be more easily content with life. Such experiences will enrich you and help you grow. And when you get back to dealing with others in a normal social setting, you will appreciate people more and cherish relationships.

Solitude is a highly sensitive topic, however. It is often mistaken for loneliness or a feeling of abandonment, conditions seen by some as precursors to depression and even suicidal tendencies. People tend to overlook the fact that solitude can be a personal choice.

Different cultures treat solitude differently. For example, in Japan living alone has become commonplace, but society is ambivalent about this. Some restaurants offer stuffed toys as company for lone diners. On the other hand, in the Netherlands there is no stigma attached to dining alone; indeed, the Dutch celebrate it and promote it. Some restaurants don’t offer any tables for two, and have one-person dining cubicles instead. They encourage diners to put away their smartphones and pick up a book to read during their meal.

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Many people do not fully understand the significant values of solitude. Aloneness does not mean dimming the light on yourself to become less visible. Anyone can shine in solitude, as long as they know what to highlight in their life.

The true essence of life is to be found not in socialising with others or sharing a life with your loved ones, but in being with yourself, giving yourself full attention so as to be able to recharge and reset. Far from being a contradiction, it complements living a full, happy, healthy life.

Remember this: instead of having constant low-quality social interaction, it is more meaningful to spend some high-quality time alone, even if only once in a while. If you can appreciate this, then you will learn to enjoy your own company and relish the idea that sometimes, you are the best company you can offer yourself.

Luisa Tam is a senior editor at the Post