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Friday, September 16, 2011

Introvert - Yep, that's me!

I've found that a good portion of my friends do not understand my NEED for solitude.  So, I thought I might post about some of the differences between extroverts and introverts. 

I am most definitely an introvert, no question, hands down, definitely an introvert.  Although, I wouldn't say that I'm at the extreme end of the scale of introversion because I do enjoy being with my friends quite a bit, and regularly spend copious amounts of time with them even following a full day of interaction at work.  However, when it comes to where I get my energy to be "on" when I'm with my friends - that definitely comes from having some alone time.  Like right now, I am starving for time alone - and not just a few minutes here or there - a full day of being alone.  I've been around people nearly every night this week, after a full weekend and a stressful week the week before.  I am desperately looking forward to tomorrow, as I will continue to put off errands that need to be handled (eventually), in order to revel in a full day of no interaction with people (as much as that can be helped when walking my dog).  See, that is where I get re-energized.  A lot of people get energized by being around other people; they feed off it and cannot wait to be surrounded by people and interact with them - and most of these types of people would be considered extroverts.  For myself, it can often take a good deal of inner dialogue to get psyched up enough to go out and interact with people.  Granted, I more than likely will have a great time once I finally get out the door - but it can still take a considerable amount of energy and neurotic self-talk to go out into a social environment.

Introverts are people whose energy tends to expand during reflection and dwindle during interaction, whereas extroverts tend to be energized when around other people and prone to boredom when they are by themselves.  Too much stimulation from social gatherings can tend to overwhelm an introvert as he/she is usually more analytical before speaking and likes to observe social situations before participating.  I find these aspects to be particularly true of myself.  I'm much more of a "slow-to-warm-up" type of person in social situations.  In fact, it may take a few outings with the same group of people before I'll feel comfortable interacting openly with them.  I definitely tend to over-analyze what I say before I speak especially in new social situations, which oftentimes means that I may not end up speaking at all because the subject changes more quickly than I'm able to process all the variables around me.  And while an extrovert might be frustrated by that, I'm typically okay with not adding to the conversation at the spur of the moment because I haven't completely formulated my opinion yet.  This also means that in the case of group studies, like Bible studies, if I do not feel fully prepared regarding the topic - as a participant, I'm not likely to add to discussion because I require more time for reflection to spontaneous questions...which is probably why I'm more comfortable leading/facilitating a discussion.  If I'm singled out as a participant in a discussion, I'm more likely to pass on the opportunity to speak.  Reflection is very key to how I function; I spend a lot of time ruminating over things as I figure out where I stand on issues and how I want to respond in a multitude of situations.

In American culture and even in evangelical church culture, extrovert characteristics are typically more prized than those of introverts.  As such I look forward to delving into this book sometime soon (as I saw this on another blog I frequent):



Check out the excerpt on Amazon.com - looks like it should be a helpful read for those who are introverts and those who know introverts.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Blessings from one introvert to another!
Marcie

Wendy said...

I love you introverted sis!! Great job of showing the difference between the two. I've never minded your introverted ways it always meant more attention for me :) thanks for putting up with it!

Rebecca said...

Amen and AMEN!! Go introverts!