Recently I read a wonderful article entitled “Caring for your Introvert” by Jonathan Rauch. I have always considered myself an introvert because of how much time I need alone. But I have never looked at the “official” definition of an introvert – a Google search on “define introvert” brought up this charming definition:
in·tro·vert/ˈintrəˌvərt/Noun
1. A shy, reticent, and typically self-centered person.
2. A person predominantly concerned with their own thoughts and feelings rather than with external things.
H’mmm a “typically self-centered person,” doesn’t sound very complimentary, does it? Jonathan Rauch has a different definition of introversion that can be summed up in the statement “introverts are people who find other people tiring.”
As I said, I have always considered myself introverted because of the amount of time I need alone, and the fact that, after being with people in a very active environment, I need even more time alone to “recharge.” However, I am becoming even MORE introverted. Just being with people for short periods of time is exhausting, I have to “gear myself up” for any time spent with a group. In fact, the other day I found myself sitting in the car for about 5 minutes in the parking lot of the grocery store just to get myself ready to enter the store and do my shopping!
When I was a teenager, I dated a guy who used to do that all the time… we would arrive someplace; a friend’s house, a restaurant, a grocery store and I would be ready to hop out of the car and get moving. He would sit. Sometimes with the music on, sometimes in the quiet. Just sitting, waiting. I never understood it. It drove me a little nuts, actually. And now, as I am becoming more introverted myself, I find I need to do the same thing.
Hey Tom, sorry I didn’t understand, I do now.
