Have you visited the Introvert, Dear website? I regularly feel validated and uplifted when I do.
I have learned a new way of explaining the difference between introverts and extroverts. It’s all about where your energy comes from. Both may very much like being with people, doing things and going places, but introverts need recovery time after being with other people, whereas that is exactly what fuels extroverts.
I’ve learned how to appear vibrant and comfortable around groups of people, animated and vocal. However, I know that I need quiet alone time afterwards. If it is a huge energy drain, like a large chaotic kids birthday party or chaperoning a kindergarten field trip, God help me, then I make sure to balance it with calm and quiet, at least the same number of hours as the craziness.
I am writing this post on Sunday afternoon just following a busy morning filled with screaming 5th graders planning and performing skits, talking over each other, and just generally being their crazy selves. Mr. B took my daughter to the Children’s Museum because he thankfully knows by now how I am and that I need some silence after that. 🙂
And so I’ll say goodbye for now and go read a book and listen to the birds in the backyard. See you all on Thursday!
“Isn’t it refreshing to know that what comes perfectly natural for you is your greatest strength? Your power is in your nature. You may not think it’s a big deal that you can spend hours immersed in something that interests you—alone—but the extrovert next door has no idea how you do it.”
― Laurie A. Helgoe, Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength
