Deonna Kelli Sayed

I did not shop on Black Friday. I loathe shopping and stores and crowds.

Instead, I toured a historic district, Old Salem, with a friend. We roamed the uneven sidewalks in awe of history. The buildings reflected autumn light in a way that made us long for strong men, the kind who would hold our hands through cobblestone alleyways. “Being alone is easy,” I told my friend. “Being in committed relationship is the hard work. That kind of thing isn’t for sissies.” She agreed. I love solitude – I crave it, in fact — but I admitted to my friend that I feel I’m reaching the limits to what solitude can teach me.

There is only so much of the world one pair of eyes can see on their own.