One thing that the pandemic has taught me: This does depend, to some degree, on having choices. Introverts are not “loners,” we’re not “antisocial,” we’re not “shy,” and we generally have no trouble at all making friends — when we want to. I can’t recall ever feeling “lonely.” I have a lot of emotions in my toolbox, but that one seems alien. I can imagine that I might — I’ve told my husband and my kids that they have to promise to outlive me. But there’s never been a time in my life when I was alone, or trapped with only a bunch of strangers making small talk.

We might think solitary confinement would work for us, if we were imprisoned, but I think it would not. Because we solitude when it’s a choice. Living in a tiny house by the river, with a nearest neighbor 5 or 10 miles away, that would be fine.