It is a battle evident in the psyche of many partnered people, and especially so in midlife. It shows itself, even within a happy long-term relationship, in the crystal-clear desire to be left alone.

To be allowed to work undisturbed, to perhaps write or paint or just sit at the computer, to think or nap or to choose to spend a day as one requires. To let things live where one has left them; to visit friends alone without guilt; to be who one is, without that being a daily source of irritation to someone else.

Derren Brown, from A Book of Secrets.

This quote doesn’t seem to resonate with absolutely everyone, but does in seemingly plenty of folk. There can surely be a unique kind of freedom, and certainly peace, in solitude.