Thanks to Ben Mack's blog, I recently read an interesting article written by Jonathan Rausch published in the Atlantic Monthly back in March 2003, called Caring for Your Introvert (subtitle: The habits and needs of a little-understood group). This is of particular interest because a lot of writers are introverts. Here are a few of his insights:
* Introverts are not necessarily shy
* Introverts are also not misanthropic
* Rather, introverts are people who find other people tiring
* Extroverts are energized by people and will fade or wilt when alone
He says, “After an hour or two of being socially ‘on,’ we introverts need to turn off and recharge. My own formula is roughly two hours alone for every hour of socializing. This isn’t anti-social. It isn’t a sign of depression. It does not call for medication. For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as restorative as sleeping, as nourishing as eating. Our motto is, ‘I’m OK, you’re OK—in small doses.’”
If reading that makes you sigh with relief—you’re one of us. Just don’t expect to be understood by extroverts. Rausch writes, “Extroverts have little or no grasp of introversion…they cannot imagine why someone would need to be alone." He also points out that extroverts dominate political and social life and set the expectations, which means that introverts are considered abnormal (loners, arrogant, anti-social, guarded, withdrawn, etc.).
If you want to read the full article, you’ll find it here.
I think this is such an important topic that I’m going to research and share with you some ideas about how we introverts can be more effective in an extrovert world. It’ll be too long to put on the blog itself, but I’ll announce it here when it’s done and give you a link to it.