This summer, I took myself to the cinema to see Amy. As an Amy Winehouse fan I knew it would be an emotionally charged experience, and I didn’t want to feel pressured to keep it together and hold back my tears for the sake of any friends who weren’t as moved as me. Watching a movie in peace and being able to make up my own mind about what I saw was a revelation - and not just because I didn’t have to share my snacks.

Any cultural experience can be enhanced if you do it on your own. Go to an exhibition and you can spend ages staring at the work you love (and no-one will make you feel bad for skipping the stuff that doesn’t interest you.) Travelling alone is one of the scariest and most exhilarating experiences you can try as an adult. You choose where you eat, where you sleep, and you’re not going to be forced into any organised ‘fun’ activities. If I’m shopping for myself, I shop alone - Teen Me would have been horrified, Adult Me luxuriates in the chance to set my own selfish schedule.

When I was younger and less secure, I thought that being seen alone in public meant no-one wanted to spend time with me, but now choosing to be out by myself makes me feel powerful if I frame it in the right way. Ironically, when we learn to love our own company we usually find that other people are drawn to us – but then we’re in a position to pick and choose our pals instead of frantically assembling a squad for the sake of safety in numbers. If you can find a way to live your best life alone, you're the one who gets to shape it – you have so much more control if you take charge of your happiness instead of entrusting it to a squad.