There are some idiosyncrasies to being an introvert that I wanted to jot down. Some things I’ve encountered personally and maybe many of you can relate.
I had to put a number in this blog post because I find that many articles have numbers in the title. Maybe people want to know how many items they have to sift through or how long the article is going to be or when it’s finally going to be over – not sure – but just for the sake of conformity I added it. :-p So, there’s only 7 and then you’re done! :-p
These are some situations introverts may find themselves in (or at least I know I have):
1.) When you think you’ve smiled at someone and been sociable but you really looked like this:
Kind of like in the movie Talledega Nights where Will Ferrell says he doesn’t know what to do with his hands for the pictures. I feel that way about my face daily. I don’t know what to do with my face. Half the time, I feel like I have RBF, no expression whatsoever, or I make the face shown above.
2.) When you are daydreaming heavily or deep in thought about something and then realize that you are actually staring straight at someone – creepy.
3.) When you would rather spend $1,000 on your kid’s fundraisers than actually sell to people. Not that I’ve actually spent that much, but I’ve certainly thought about it – weighed the pros and cons.
4.) When you need copious amounts of downtime just to coexist with people. And what I call super downtime when you have just been way too busy and interacting with way too many people. Super downtime is just a need to amp up the feeling of relaxation so you can feel better after being super busy. Think movie lounge + nachos, several hours in bed reading a book, or just some time in the dark with no noise, a blanket over your head, in the fetal position (:-p) and only your thoughts to listen to. All of which feel super gluttonous when you have kids – plus you might have to feign a migraine to get some of this time to yourself.
5.) When the doorbell rings and your first instinct is to dive under the nearest table. I actually did this once (well, we have windows next to our front door that people can see in – I couldn’t risk being seen esp by a salesperson). Same thing with the phone and even for texts you look at your phone suspiciously.
6.) When a new person wants to be friends with you… Let me just say it takes an act of God to make a friend. Which is perfect – that’s the way it should be. You only want friends that God wants you to have. But once friends, you are friends for life..
7.) When you suck at making small talk and you delve right into how you just had a pet die. Awkward! I actually did this and it sucked. There’s just no taking that back in conversation. Now, how about that weather? :-p You end up having a whole group of people patting you on the back and trying to comfort you – not exactly the kind of limelight an introvert wants either. Not to mention, we don’t like to be touched. :-p
8.) This is probably not a specifically introvert thing, but getting stumped when you are on the phone and you have to impromptu spell out a word because someone doesn’t understand you. Or getting stumped on the phone in general b/c well, it’s a phone. I get that people don’t understand me a lot because I have a severe mumbling problem. So, I have to spell things out a lot on the phone (and sometimes in person) which I should be used to, but I kind of feel like it’s an extreme game of Scattergories. Something about being put on the spot to come up with a word that starts with a certain letter in a split second gets me completely stumped. And especially if other people are listening to the words I’m coming up with – the more people listening, the more stumped I get.
I know there are so many more things to add to this list but I’ll add them as they come to me. I’m an introvert and I love fellow introverts. We can be fun and sociable, definitely, but we also need our downtime and we need people who are willing to deal with our idiosyncrasies.