Psychology says cooking a real dinner just for yourself is a quiet act of self-respect — the person who sets a table for one has decided their own company deserves the same effort an audience gets

Psychology says cooking a real dinner just for yourself is a quiet act of self-respect — the person who sets a table for one has decided their own company deserves the same effort an audience gets

When it’s just me for dinner, I usually have what TikTok would call girl dinner. It changes every night: maybe a couple of chicken nuggets, a bell pepper on its last legs with chips and guac, or tinned fish with crackers and peanut M&Ms. There’s nothing wrong with any of that. But one thing is consistent: if nobody else is coming over, I’m probably not making a real dinner. It turns out there’s something interesting psychologically about that di…