The other day I made a secret plan. I picked out a movie I wanted to see, researched the nearest movie theater to my hotel (I’m still working in Dallas), and figured out the best time to go to the theater. I was going to go to a movie alone, something I’ve never done before.

You see, as much as I enjoy my own company, I’ve just never been good at trying totally new activities on my own. I usually let other people introduce me to new experiences. Once I’ve done something a few times, it gets a lot easier to continue, but it’s always difficult to begin. I go running alone, and I usually exercise alone, and I can even go on tours of cities alone and explore museums alone, but I’d never gone to the movies alone…and since I’d never done that before, I wasn’t sure if I ever would.

So I decided that it was time to take myself on a movie date. It was quite an exciting thought. I’m single right now for the first time in over 5 years, and I want to spend some time getting to know myself better – what better way to do that then to take myself out?

So I got into the date mindset. I made sure I picked a movie I’d wanted to see for awhile. I arranged for the hotel shuttle to pick me up, put on my favorite music before I left and exercised in my room for a bit. Then I picked out clothes for myself that made me feel good and fixed my hair. When I got to the theater, I put my phone away and explored the bar. Then I sat where I wanted to sit and ate the movie snacks I wanted to eat. When the movie ended, I stayed put for all of the credits and let everything soak in. It was kind of glorious.

The movie was amazing and the experience was even better. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen a movie alone sooner. It was a great date! Woohoo!

Haha, I guess the idea of taking myself on a date had seemed scary and depressing in the past. And maybe the whole thing could’ve been scary or depressing…like any date. But this outing had been fun and enlightening.

Hopefully I’ll go out with myself again soon.

If you’ve been thinking of taking yourself out solo, I say go for it, even if you’re feeling hesitant. It’s worth a try! Or have you already done this? What was your experience like?

I saw ‘Boyhood’ at the Magnolia theater in Dallas. Brilliant movie- filmed over 12 years…quite possibly one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.