One Isn't the Loneliest Number

"One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever see.”

Contrary to the lyrics of this popular tune, the number One doesn’t really need anyone or anything else to have a good time. One likes to stand alone.

In numerology, One suggests activity, originality, inventiveness, courage and initiative.  One conjures up the scout or pioneer, the individual and leader. Ancient number systems see odd numbers as masculine or yang, and even numbers as feminine or yin. One symbolizes the beginning, so the creator. One is the center, the indivisible place of all possibilities. One is also usually associated with the masculine spirit, which might explain why it’s considered all right for men to be alone and still be mysterious and assertive -- and why women are seen as ‘less than’ if they’re alone.

Unfortunately, we’re programmed to think that being alone is lonely. We’re used to hearing the stereotype that being single is being lonely.  A woman alone is typecast as a ‘spinster’ who doesn't have romantic relationships, someone whom love has passed by, who has never been married nor experienced motherhood.

Men haven’t suffered as much from the stereotypes. One seems to suit them just fine. In books, we find single male lovers portrayed as romantic and intriguing.  Their loneness is an important part of their manly life.

Luckily, most women are finding out that one is not necessarily a lonely number. Today we’re enjoying the freedom and creativity that quality time alone brings us. One is coming to symbolize a new sense of wholeness in women, a sense of being centered in ourselves, of belonging to ourselves.

All of us – male and female -- have to learn to work with number One, because no matter how many people we have in our lives, we will find ourselves alone when we face our lives -- and when we face our deaths. To live a fulfilling life, we must cultivate the concept of One, and come to understand the difference between being alone and being lonely.