I Love Being an Introvert and Here’s Why
I’m an introvert.
There I said it! Actually, if I’m to be totally honest, introverts have been getting a lot of attention lately. I think COVID made it abundantly clear that a true blue introvert doesn’t find isolation to be terribly lonely.
I didn’t and don’t.
Now that everyone is getting back to normal, at least in my neck of the woods, I freely admit that life hasn’t changed all that much for me. But then it didn’t change drastically when the lockdown started back in 2020 either.
I like my alone time. Nope! Let me try that again. I NEED my alone time. Lots of it.
Also, I’m retired, so my idea of mixing and mingling, which consists of getting a cup of coffee at a local coffee shop and writing, is very doable. I can set my own schedule nowadays.
I consider being in a room of mostly strangers for a few hours while writing to be a social event.
Of course, my happy days were numbered back when I was raising kids and immersed in a career. I didn’t get to pick and choose when I was around people. That meant at the end of the week, I was drained.
So, in some ways I had even less motivation to get together with friends.
When I retired, I promised myself two things. One, I’d never again spend time with people whose company I didn’t enjoy. And, two, I’d never apologize for choosing my own company over the company of others. Luckily, I retired at age fifty-four and have been able to stick by those two promises I made to myself for seventeen years.
I’m a longterm world traveler which some people find surprising.
I guess they equate alone time with being a home body. In my case, that’s just not true. I do love my home and familiar surroundings, but when I travel, it doesn’t interfere with my introversive habits.
Is introversive a word?
What do I like about longterm travel as an introvert? When I leave the familiar behind in order to explore other regions, cultures, and natural surroundings, I gain a kind of anonymity that familiar surroundings don’t afford me.
I love going to a new city where nobody knows my name.
If I meet someone in passing at a bar or coffee shop and strike up a conversation, we have no personal histories and fewer preconceived notions about one another. We’re both totally unentangled. The conversation may even be stimulating but soon we move on and most likely will never meet again.
I like that.
International travel is particularly satisfying as no one expects me to weigh in on their domestic problems, politically or socially. I’m awarded a get out of jail free card merely because I’m not a citizen. If I spend enough time in another country, my preoccupation with my own problems back home begins to recede into the background as well. Suddenly, I feel a bit freer as my perspective broadens and my drive to control outcomes lessens.
It’s easier to recognize that I really don’t have much power in the BIG picture when passing time abroad. I can relax for a change.
At any rate, being an introvert brings with it an enormous number of advantages. I never fear being alone. I can entertain myself endlessly. I’m able to enjoy traveling, going to the movies, eating in a restaurant, shopping, and so many other pastimes with or without a companion. There’s a down side, too, of course. People exhaust me even when I’m having a good time. I tend to accept invitations and then as the hour draws nigh, I regret it. I get bored quickly with small talk.
Bottom line …
I doubt we get to choose whether we’re an introvert or and extrovert. As near as I can tell, I was born this way, and I probably love being this way because this is who I really am.
Thanks, universe!
Teresa Roberts is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
