The Introvert In Me

A friend drew my attention to this wonderful blog called Things You Should Know About Introverts.

It cracked me up.

And it explained a lot about me. Mostly.

For years, I harboured the notion that my natural curiosity and journalism training were the reasons that I prefer to stay in the background and observe.

It was only a few years ago that another friend described himself as an introvert. I laughed. That didn't make sense to me. This man talks to a crowd regularly as part of his job. I couldn't understand how he would think he is an introvert.

Then he informed me that I, too, am an introvert. "It's not about how you act. It's about where you get your energy from," he told me.

Oh.....

Turns out I'm an introvert because that label defines how I get energized, not how I behave.

Yep. That's me.

I like being alone. I like silence.

I sometimes like silence punctuated with my favourite music. No talking.

I need to recharge alone.

I can speak to a crowd and I can also talk to people and sell books all day at a trade show, but I need a nap afterwards - or at least a good long time of just sitting alone to decompress.

I have to force myself to hang around after an event to visit with folks.

And I am okay with people cancelling plans on me, but it doesn't happen that often because (1) I work from a home-based office, so there aren't that many parties going on around here; and (2) I've figured out how to accept invitations only for things I really want to attend. (You can do that when you're older and more established in your career.)

I am a writer. A creative person. There is always something going on in my head that keeps my wheels turning. I wouldn't exactly call my inner thoughts 'epic' - at least not all the time - but I do have some pretty good ideas just itching to get out and these are enough to keep me occupied most of the hours of every day.

I know I have a lot of company when it comes to introverts who are writers or involved in creative industries such as publishing. We folks get energized by standing back, watching the world, forming our opinions, presenting our views or expressions of creativity, then moving on to something else.

We're okay with being alone, most of the time. Except when we've finally come up with that snappy reply to that smart-aleck statement or question. That's about the only time we wish we were still hanging around in that crowd of people.