Yet Another Thing I Didn't Know - Part Deux

This is just a year of revelations.

First, I find out that I'm actually 5'7.  Now, I've discovered that I'm actually an introvert.

Me?  Holy shit.  

I recently read an article called Caring for Your Introvert by Jonathan Rauch.  I really don't remember how I found my way to the article, I only remember thinking that he was talking about me.

It was a complete shock. Not in my wildest dreams, with every word in the universe available to me, would I have chosen the word introvert to describe me.

Like most people, I thought of introverts as shy. As it turns out, shyness is an entirely different ball of wax - it's a social anxiety. It's avoiding social situations out of fear.  You can actually be an extrovert and be shy (which seems like it's own personal, customized version of hell).  

According to Wikipedia and the Urban Dictionary, introverts possess the following general characteristics:

One who focuses on the inner world of thoughts and ideas. 
One who enjoys spending time alone.
One who thinks before they speak.
One who takes pleasure from solitary activities.

My favorite quotes from the article sum it up for me:

"Rather, introverts are people who find other people tiring."

"Introverts are also not misanthropic, though some of us do go along with Sartre as far as to say "Hell is other people at breakfast."" (I must admit, I've feel like this about 40% of the time)

I love, love, love, spending time alone.  It never felt like I was hiding out, or depressed, or avoiding anything - it was just where I preferred to be.  My favorite place to be is inside my own imagination. I love it in there - it's so much fun!  I find people most annoying when they fill the silence with banal small talk, yammering on and on, which usually interferes with the party I have going on it my brain.  It's the reason I usually choose not to engage strangers in conversations - unless I actually have something to say. 

For me, this wasn't the excitement of getting more information about myself. I mean, that's great too, but it was something more.  

As a kid, I was a constant daydreamer (much to my mother's chagrin), I was always inside my own head - making up my better versions of what was going on in my life.  I liked what I liked and i didn't care what anyone thought (obviously - I was Molly Ringwald's #1 Fan from Compton), but when I'd hear my mother describe me to other people she'd say that I "...marched to the beat of a different drummer."  I didn't take it as a compliment.  Whether she meant to not, I took that (& other comments) to mean that I was peculiar and that my own natural tendencies were actually unnatural.  

This article assured me that there were other peculiar people out there, marching to the beat of their own drummer.   It was like getting extra credit in a class you already have an 'A' in: you know you're fine, but it's really nice to have that extra bump.   My Freak Flag can fly in a group setting. 

I'm seriously considering getting bumper stickers made that say "Introverts do it better - alone!"

I'll let you know when they're available for purchase.

Until the next big reveal...have a great weekend!!!