Aug 21, 2020

Being an Introvert

I feel like for the whole of my life, I've been like this. When I was younger, I never really understood myself. I would always wonder why I'm not like other people. Like, why I don't like to talk or engage with people. I used to think that I was a loser funnily because I felt so out of place. If I'm being honest, all the friends I've made are people who talked to me first, never the other way around. As I get older, I've accepted that I am introverted..sometimes I just don't want to talk, especially if I don't have anything to really say or I'm fine sitting by myself or I enjoy staying at home (well, not to the extent with, you know, how the world is going, rather choose to stay home, not be forced lol, I'm just used to having a routine, not easy to adjust). It doesn't mean I'm lonely or whatever...I've just learnt over the years that the best company is yourself. Also, you can't get into any drama or nonsense if you don't talk 🤷🏽‍♀️

Updated (May. 2021)

This topic is pretty similar to my post about being a quiet girl, but growing up, I didn’t hear the word “Introvert” until I started using the internet more and now I relate to that word so much. Now, what is the actual meaning of being an introvert? An introvert is a person with a specific personality usually called introversion. Introversion can be defined as, from verywellmind.com:

“A personality trait characterized by a focus on internal feelings rather than on external sources of stimulation”

Photo by Inga Seliverstova from Pexels

Introverts tend to be mistaken for shy people and there’s an actual difference. In my view, shy people are frightened by social interactions but introverts just don’t like interacting all the time. I was always deemed as quiet and shy, I’m quiet...yes but shy?...no. I like to socialize, it just takes the right person, but I’m not scared of people, just don’t like talking to any and everybody. From doing some research, some signs can indicate someone is an introvert. I’m going to go through a few and give you my take on them.

Enjoying Solitude

This is having a nice time on your own, whether being home alone, reading a good book or doing your favourite hobby. I think people use this and think introvert hates people or social interactions but...no that’s not the case. To me, it’s a sense of comfort and calmness being on my own. It’s nice to be in a quiet place and enjoy your own company. I talked about loving the library when school was opened for me in this post. The thought of having a small area to myself and quietness bring me joy. The last part I said in my old piece was related to high school, I was never involved in problems or drama because I was usually by myself or with my group of friends. So, that’s a bonus with being an introvert if I do say so myself hehe.

Has a small group of friends

I always say this about myself when it comes to this topic, “I know many people, but I have a few real friends”. I’m not antisocial so I’m able to have conversations with people or classmates and have acquaintances. I’ve had my friends for more than 5 years and even though we don’t see or talk to each other all the time because of school or..you know...a pandemic...we’re still great friends. I made long-lasting friendships with just a few people and I’m grateful for them. There’s nothing wrong with having a huge group of friends, I don’t think I can keep up or handle it, I’ll probably get overwhelmed.

A woman sitting down, reading a book and drinking a hot drink

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Crowds can be draining

In my post about anxiety, I talk about crowds being a trigger for me and also being draining. Even if I don’t talk to many people during the day, just being around groups of people or being in a lecture with almost 100 students can take a toll on me. Loud crowds are the worst for me, this is really why I’m not an avid party go-er haha. I can’t take the loudness and it gets overwhelming for me. I can hang out at a park with a few friends and be okay but music blasting and people screaming just stresses me out. There are a few times I would come back home from school and just fall asleep in my bed because I would be so tired of being around people for so long. It sounds a bit ridiculous, haha but this happens to me...again I don’t hate people, it's just too much sometimes.

Being a daydreamer

I would call daydreaming my pass time because I do it a lot haha. I am usually in my head figuring out stuff, thinking about what I’m going to say or even thinking of a scenario. I remember when I was in high school after I finish a class and while walking to my next destination, I would be daydreaming. I would walk past an area where some workers who deal with gardening and cleaning and one of them told me one day that I was always looking like I was thinking hard about something. Without my knowledge, my face would look stern while I was thinking or daydreaming. I often zone out as well and go off into daydream land. I would have a hard time being in a conversation because sometimes I zone out and come back to reality and miss out on a few things the person was saying haha. Not the best trait honestly and it’s not like whatever the person is talking about is boring, I just have a very busy mind.

So this was another update on one of my old posts and I wanted to go more in-depth about being an introvert. There was a point in my life where I felt a bit out of place because of how I am but it’s nice to know that there are people out there that are like me and I can do a quick google search to understand a bit more of my personality. I hope you enjoyed my take on being an introvert and similar to what I said in a previous post, being an introvert or being a little different from others is okay, that is what makes you special. So, as always, I got some questions for you, are you an introvert and if you don’t see yourself as one, what’s your take on introverts? As usual, I’m gonna leave some links below that I found helpful.