Learn to enjoy your own company—and your life.
A Merry Loner is the space to learn how to enjoy your own company and make life less scary and more exciting.
I write A Merry Loner to grapple with the question that troubles us all: how to live a meaningful, enjoyable life?
The answer is different for each of us because it comes from within.
That’s why getting to know yourself and getting comfortable spending time alone with yourself is the foundation to building a life you enjoy.
When the world feels chaotic, depressing, and downright oppressive, I believe it’s up to each of us as individuals to rally our spirits, tap into our mental reserves, and use our own gumption, wits, and fervor to make the days joyful, despite it all.
For me, that means learning how to:
🌻 Build self-confidence and let go of the need for approval (which we all know is easier said than done)
🌻 Be well read even as the screen constantly distracts us and there never seems to be enough time to dedicate to books
🌻 Live a life offline despite the noise and pressure to digitize (and now automate) everything
🌻 Explore the world without waiting for someone else to join us
🌻 Fight the temptation to constantly buy more and stop believing that everything will magically fall into place if we just get this one more thing.
Because when you can learn to be happy on your own, you can do anything.
I’m Merry, a writer currently living in Paris.
I’ve been a working writer since 2016 when I got my first (paid!) internship at a marketing agency as a junior in college. I think they paid me $50 per blog post. They even trusted me enough to write remotely while I studied in Rennes, France for a semester (a big deal in 2017 when working from home was barely on the world’s radar).
But my writing journey started long before then.
If you asked five-year-old Merry who she wanted to be when she grew up, the answer was always: “writer.”
It’s why I completed a triple-major BA summa cum laude in writing, communication studies, and French at the University of Rhode Island. It’s why I took a job as an in-house technical writer at a public relations firm after college, where I wrote articles, whitepapers, press releases—pretty much any form of the written word you can imagine—for clients in cybersecurity, IoT, smart manufacturing, and a lot more.
But all my writing was published under someone else’s name.
After a few years learning from C-suite executives from around the world via the headset in my tiny cubicle, I quit.
Then, I moved to France.
I completed a master’s degree in creative writing at the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès. I was one of only two non-native French speakers in the class. After acing my undergraduate studies, it was a wake-up call to not be one of the best writers and orators in the room. I felt like a fish out of water a lot of the time, but I learned a lot and ended up graduating with honors.
Today, I’m back to ghostwriting about technology, though I occasionally write a few articles under my own name for fun. They’ve been published in places like Business Insider and Hard Copy.
A Merry Loner is where I can be myself—and you can, too.
I’m not writing for clients. I’m not writing for clout. I’m writing to ponder life and how each of us can make our own more enjoyable.
Lots of different things, but always with one aim: to help you learn to enjoy your own company, and by extension, your life.
I write about:
🌻 LONER MINDSET: fresh perspectives on learning to genuinely enjoy your own company
🌻 BOOKS: reading lists for people who love being alone with a good story
🌻 ANALOG LIVING: inspiration to step back from the screen and live a life offline
🌻 SOLO TRAVEL: guides on where to go and how to enjoy it alone
🌻 MINDFUL CONSUMPTION: vetted recommendations for a simpler, less wasteful life
🌻 LONER Q&As: interviews from global voices on how to live a meaningful, enjoyable life
I believe a Merry Loner isn’t lonely; he doesn’t lack companionship; she isn’t anti-social.
Quite the contrary. A Merry Loner is independent, self-assured, and not afraid to walk alone into a roomful of strangers, introduce himself, and make new friends.
Rather than seeking external validation, waiting on other people’s approval, or passively following trends, a Merry Loner confidently makes her own choices and feels comfortable (not anxious) in their own company.
I believe a happy life begins with learning to enjoy your own company. Because when you can be happy on your own, you can do anything.
🌻 I’m not curating an “aesthetic.” (I deign to even say that word.)
🌻 I’m not writing content just to feed you affiliate links.
🌻 I don’t use AI for writing. I painstakingly write every single word you read.
I think. I don’t regurgitate. And I don’t write to inflame, agitate, or otherwise prey on your emotions.
The term “blogging” can feel outdated these days, but I think that’s why so many people still love it—and others are starting to return to the “old” way of using the Internet.
Without dancing in front of a camera, relying on social media, or giving in to AI shortcuts, my writing makes people feel seen, the days feel less dreary, and life feel more enjoyable.
Every month, 33,000+ people interact with A Merry Loner. People subscribe to my newsletter from England, the USA, Belgium, Australia, the Czech Republic, Kenya—just to name a few.
Some of them have even taken the time to write messages like:
🌻 “Love this, Meredith! If you don’t enjoy your own company, are you really ever with others, or merely avoiding yourself?” — Chris Holliday
🌻 “Okay this was seriously SUCH a joy to read. Your independent mindset is contagious.” — Olivia Wickstrom
🌻 “I just wanted to say how much I’m loving your recent blog posts. I particularly liked Abigail’s article about attending a wedding alone. I’ve been trying to get more comfortable doing things solo, so it’s great to see a space that celebrates that.” — Eleanor Jones
🌻 “There’s a real need for this conversation!” — Christine Gondreau
🌻 “As a creative, alone time is so important and necessary. Some of the most magical moments happen when I’m by myself creating. Cheers to being a merry loner!” — Reina Ciccarone
🌻 “I love to see your newsletter in my inbox, because then I know I’ll have something fun to read that day.” — Bob McGee
🌻 “Your newsletter is amazing, and everyone should sign up for it!” — Ioana Wilkinson
A few emails a couple times per month sharing my newest posts on the Loner Mindset, books, analog living, solo travel, and mindful consumption
Art and memes on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and Pinterest
Complete honesty and well-researched writing that I labor over for hours and hours
No AI writing
No ads
No shiny pictures of me pretending to have a perfect life
No content teaching you how to quit your job and get rich with writing
A Merry Loner’s newsletter is the best place.
With unreliable, finicky algorithms, ads crawling all over your screen, and vapid clickbait dominating your feed, subscribing to my newsletter is the only sure-fire way to get the good stuff.
But if you’re on social media and need a little pick-me-up now and then amidst the doomsday headlines, AI atrocities, and nonstop advertisements, I invite you to follow A Merry Loner on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Better yet, stay away from the algorithms altogether. Head straight to these reader favorites:
🌻 How to Live a More Analog Life: 5 easy, cheap (or free) ideas
🌻 What to Do Instead of Social Media
🌻 5 Alternatives to Amazon for Books (and why I no longer buy books from Amazon)
🌻 7 Books on Self-Awareness to Become a Better Person
Until next time,
Merry