StoryWorth: Extroversion
Are you an extrovert or an introvert?
While I don’t think those categories are as rigid, or as useful, as most people seem to think, I’m pretty obviously extroverted. I enjoy social events, can easily make conversation with strangers, make friends comparatively quickly, and don’t find other people’s company exhausting in reasonable doses.
It has been funny to me that most people who identify as introverts feel that they are disadvantaged in the world and often shamed for how they prefer to interact with it. I spent a lot of my life being shamed for talking too much and feeling bad that I often make myself the center of attention in gatherings. I think that my mother’s idea of what it means to be a “lady” didn’t include calling attention to oneself and that idea is embedded pretty deeply. In the last twenty years I’ve worked at being more in control of my talking-not to talk less, necessarily, but to not do it reflexively-and to acknowledge the positives of being extroverted and own those as a valuable part of myself.
At the same time, whenever I see the “Introvert Bingo” memes and lists, I recognize a lot of myself there. I love to read. I spend most of my days alone. I hate meetings. I often feel awkward among strangers. I do most of my shopping online. Many of my friends are people I’ve never met, or rarely see in person. I nap daily. At parties I often need breaks and when I’ve had a lot of social time, I need time alone to recharge.
As with most ways of categorizing people, I don’t fit neatly into either box.
This entry was originally posted at https://lillibet.dreamwidth.org/1319989.html. You can comment either place! There are
comments over there now.
While I don’t think those categories are as rigid, or as useful, as most people seem to think, I’m pretty obviously extroverted. I enjoy social events, can easily make conversation with strangers, make friends comparatively quickly, and don’t find other people’s company exhausting in reasonable doses.
It has been funny to me that most people who identify as introverts feel that they are disadvantaged in the world and often shamed for how they prefer to interact with it. I spent a lot of my life being shamed for talking too much and feeling bad that I often make myself the center of attention in gatherings. I think that my mother’s idea of what it means to be a “lady” didn’t include calling attention to oneself and that idea is embedded pretty deeply. In the last twenty years I’ve worked at being more in control of my talking-not to talk less, necessarily, but to not do it reflexively-and to acknowledge the positives of being extroverted and own those as a valuable part of myself.
At the same time, whenever I see the “Introvert Bingo” memes and lists, I recognize a lot of myself there. I love to read. I spend most of my days alone. I hate meetings. I often feel awkward among strangers. I do most of my shopping online. Many of my friends are people I’ve never met, or rarely see in person. I nap daily. At parties I often need breaks and when I’ve had a lot of social time, I need time alone to recharge.
As with most ways of categorizing people, I don’t fit neatly into either box.
This entry was originally posted at https://lillibet.dreamwidth.org/1319989.html. You can comment either place! There are
comments over there now.