I just had what I will call a “discussion” with someone who told me that I do not know myself very well. I had casually mentioned that I am an introvert.
They told me that was impossible because I am a teacher, a director, a speaker. I teach short term improv comedy, encouraging silliness in a big, overdone manner. Last summer I played Madame Thenardier in a summer production of Les Miserables, the opera.
If you know the character, you know that she is anything but shy and retiring…I yelled, flounced, flirted, intimidated and chewed the scenery. My friend pointed out that I even tickled the balding head of a man in the audience.
I smiled and explained that many introverts are successfully able to function in crowds…even in front of crowds. “ Introvert” doesn’t necessarily mean “shy.” It is really defined by how one is energized.
After a day of teaching, talking, singing, directing, and being around people, I often sit on the bench next to my koi pond. I feed my fish, scratch my dog, Bob’s ears, and enjoy the bird song from the myriad trees in my two acre gardens. I feel my soul open and heal from the battles and scars of the day. After an hour or two, I am ready to face humanity once more.
Do I enjoy conversation? Of course. Do you get excited watching my students sing, dance, act, move? Definitely. Do I love being onstage and taking on the lives of various characters? Absolutely. But during that time I am giving energy. I leave everything on that stage, in the classroom, with those people.
And I need to find a quiet place to recover, rest and renew.
That is an introvert.
Many…I would venture to say most…writers are introverts. We gain our energy alone in our writing spaces, communicating across time and space through our written word.
Extroverts get their energy from being with people. They leave a crowd jazzed up and ready for more. Their tendency is not to seek out alone time. They will seek out people with whom to spend time. In fact, they will become more and more restless the longer they have to spend on their own. Of course, some time alone will be desirable, but that it is not where an extrovert gains energy.
My friend shook her head and smiled indulgently, convinced I simply did not know myself. I smiled as well, knowing that the whole “introvert/extrovert” mystery is confusing to many.
Then I drove home, called Bob, and sat on the bench by the pond and fed my fish. Energy in. I spend the quiet moments gearing up to return to the area high school to sit among hundreds of people at the band concert where two of my children would be performing. Energy out.
And after the concert…a few moments with the laptop writing a blog post. Energy back in.
Tomorrow I will once again begin the cycle of giving to others and then recovering with my Author Puppy, Koi and computer.
They told me that was impossible because I am a teacher, a director, a speaker. I teach short term improv comedy, encouraging silliness in a big, overdone manner. Last summer I played Madame Thenardier in a summer production of Les Miserables, the opera.
If you know the character, you know that she is anything but shy and retiring…I yelled, flounced, flirted, intimidated and chewed the scenery. My friend pointed out that I even tickled the balding head of a man in the audience.
I smiled and explained that many introverts are successfully able to function in crowds…even in front of crowds. “ Introvert” doesn’t necessarily mean “shy.” It is really defined by how one is energized.
After a day of teaching, talking, singing, directing, and being around people, I often sit on the bench next to my koi pond. I feed my fish, scratch my dog, Bob’s ears, and enjoy the bird song from the myriad trees in my two acre gardens. I feel my soul open and heal from the battles and scars of the day. After an hour or two, I am ready to face humanity once more.
Do I enjoy conversation? Of course. Do you get excited watching my students sing, dance, act, move? Definitely. Do I love being onstage and taking on the lives of various characters? Absolutely. But during that time I am giving energy. I leave everything on that stage, in the classroom, with those people.
And I need to find a quiet place to recover, rest and renew.
That is an introvert.
Many…I would venture to say most…writers are introverts. We gain our energy alone in our writing spaces, communicating across time and space through our written word.
Extroverts get their energy from being with people. They leave a crowd jazzed up and ready for more. Their tendency is not to seek out alone time. They will seek out people with whom to spend time. In fact, they will become more and more restless the longer they have to spend on their own. Of course, some time alone will be desirable, but that it is not where an extrovert gains energy.
My friend shook her head and smiled indulgently, convinced I simply did not know myself. I smiled as well, knowing that the whole “introvert/extrovert” mystery is confusing to many.
Then I drove home, called Bob, and sat on the bench by the pond and fed my fish. Energy in. I spend the quiet moments gearing up to return to the area high school to sit among hundreds of people at the band concert where two of my children would be performing. Energy out.
And after the concert…a few moments with the laptop writing a blog post. Energy back in.
Tomorrow I will once again begin the cycle of giving to others and then recovering with my Author Puppy, Koi and computer.