Living alone can get a bad rep. Science doesn't help: A study out of the University of California at Berkeley found that living alone increases mortality in older people due to lack of social contact. Finnish researchers confirmed that flying solo can up the likelihood of an alcohol-related death. OK fine, I get it: If you live alone and never go out, or talk to people, or develop relationships, that can have some serious negative consequences. But brush aside the image of you, sitting in front of a pizza for one, trying to talk to it like that volleyball in Castaway, fading away slowly, and snap into the reality. Which is, of course, that living alone is awesome, and every woman should do it—at least for a little while. Everything in here is mine. That's what I thought to myself when I moved into my own place over five years ago. I had just moved out of an apartment where I had been living with a boyfriend—more accurately, an ex boyfriend, hence the move—and I was filled with relief. Being in my own apartment gave me a physical space where I could reimagine my whole life, on only my terms.