Gloria Steinem once said of Niki de Saint Phalle, the reclusive French American sculptor who abandoned her domestic life to live alone for a year and make art in the 1960s: “That is the first free woman I have ever seen in real life. I want to be just like her.”

Decades later, we’re finally getting the message: solitary time is rather cool. So cool, it’s imprinting on the zeitgeist. In fact, when a recent article spotlighting the Hermettes – a group of women in New York who’ve adopted a reclusive lifestyle – went viral it struck a chord.

These women use the term ‘hermit’ loosely. They don’t live in a cave. Nor are they agoraphobic. They, quite simply, like to be left alone. Indeed, it would be remiss to say they’re entirely antisocial. Many of them live by themselves, enjoying a small circle of friends who enrich their lives. They contribute to society, hold down high-powered jobs and often undertake quite extroverted work. Better yet, they challenge the trope that a mammoth group of friends, coupled with an overspilling social calendar, are somehow tantamount to our self-worth.