being healthy and alone

The topic of the most recent Catapult magazine is "alone." And the focus has generally been about the goodness of being alone. It feels that many consider being alone (too much) to be odd and being single is unhealthy - or a sign that something is wrong. And as someone who has purposely chosen to live in community - and who is deeply thankful for all the married people in my life (and the joy and support they bring each other) - I can see that there is good reason to wonder about how good or healthy or loving it is to be alone. And yet, at the same time, I want to be able to say that there is a goodness in being alone and single. And the articles found in this issue seem to capture well that struggle of living well in relationship with others and with God and knowing oneself and one's desires.

And since I feel like I've had lots of experience wondering about the goodness of being single, I thought I'd join my voice to this issue, with my article, Choosing Single. I give a couple of explanations about how I've ended up still single, ultimately recognizing that being single is less of an accident of circumstances and more of a choice. While I'd like to share the challenges and joys of my life with a husband - and share his joys and challenges, too - my desire to share my life with a spouse isn't so great that I would want to give up the life I have now or the choices I have made. And as I become more part of the community and this world in Amsterdam, I learn more and more to love these bijzonder people around me - and this crazy way of life. and I would dearly like to share my life with someone, but right now I would definitely choose being single over having to give up the life I have now.

And I have thoughts about what God has next for me - and how I might be a bit more aware of the possibilities and opportunities that God might have for me - but since God has a tendency of turning my thoughts and life upside down, I'll try not to out-think Him too much on this whole choosing single-ness thing :)

I've seen that several other articles in this Catapult issue discuss this journey of acceptance and joy in singleness - while also acknowledging that it is not perfect in itself. And I'm glad that I can add to their thoughts/sharing my own sharing of my journey of hope and longing.