Pros and Cons of Living Alone

So at the ripe age of 26, I was forced… lool not forced parse but nudged, to get my own personal apartment I.e to live on my own.

I had always envisioned this moment to be a rite of passage, like my family would one day gather around in wrappers with lit candles and drums for the official moving out ceremony, but to my disappointment, it was nothing like that. Although to be fair, I was partially living on my own as I lived apart from my family with other people, so I guess I didn’t qualify for the ceremony.

Anyways, I got a verbal quit notice or should I say a nudge which I myself have been working towards but all the same, at that instant, my world went quiet and everything was still for a split second thereafter it was thrown into a confusing chaos of getting a new apartment.

Now I have to inform you, the process of getting an apartment in Lagos is a huge frigging deal and full of stress. It is not as easy as parents usually make it out to be when we were growing, then you were just simply informed about the relocation just for the sake of your attendance during the occasion even at that it was not as if your attendance was optional. While I would have loved to expatiate about my ordeal in getting a new apartment I won’t at least not in this post…but I’ll say thank God for Propertypro.ng and NigerianProperty (#notanad  #iwish)

So now I’m in my new place and I can’t begin to explain the emotions that come along with it…but I’ll try.

CONS

1. You have to do everything yourself

2. If you live with your parents or guardian I will like to pose this question to you…” how do you dispose your garbage?” and by dispose I don’t mean just putting it in a bag, I mean the route the bag takes out of your household to a safe government approved waste disposal system around arena…or some ish like that. well some might have the answer to that but to those who don’t I will like to inform you that these are the kind of things you will begin to worry about

"disposing of the garbage"

“plumbing”
”electrical works and bill”

“water bills”

“groceries”

“furniture”

The list is endless (lool…happy adulting), and if there is any glitch in having any of the above available there is no one else to point the accusing finger to apart from your damn self

3. Moving: I have always hated the process of packing up stuff into a box moving them to another place and unpacking the same box, its a lot of stress for me. Its almost a month now and I still have not finished unpacking. I still reach out to boxes and bags to get my body cream, spray and hairbrush every morning and as a female that is saying a lot but I don’t see it changing anytime soon…I think….maybe, maybe not

4. Decoration: when you were in your parents' house or in a shared apartment there must have been an image imprinted into your mind of how you envisioned your personal apartment to be like. Well, newsflash, it never ends up the way you imagined it and truth be told after the whole ordeal of gating a place, moving and unpacking you would not care how the place look anymore so far it's habitable and neat

5. RENT!!!: The big R word brings palpitations whenever it comes to mind. It becomes first in your list of priorities. You might start seeing yourself even shoving food aside just to satisfy the R monster

6. You are alone: goes without saying

PROS

1. Your ROOF!!!: while growing up we had been threatened a couple of times by parents or guardians with the “under the roof” statement. Right now you are under your own roof, although it comes along with some responsibilities you don’t mind because IT’S YOUR FRIGGING ROOF!!!

2. Personal facilities: Now you have your own personal facilities that you can use whenever and however you like. For instance, I don’t have to listen for the bang of the toilet door or the flush of the toilet to know when its safe for me to do my business neither do I secretly wait and count the use of the bathroom before I jump in to have my shower and hurry for my 8am appointment

3. Visitors: You welcome whoever you want to welcome whenever you want to welcome guest.

4. The Freedom: this point can not be overemphasized, the relief, the relaxation, the carefree attitude associated with getting your own place is unimaginable.

5. Your rules: It's your castle you decide what happens in it, what and who stays or goes. Everything is under your command…except for Nepa Light

6. YOU ARE ALONE!!!…and this to me is more than a breath of fresh air.