Introversion Isn’t An Illness
Stop telling people they need to get out more
I recently overheard a mother saying to her seemingly quiet teenage son that he needs to put himself out there more and make lots of new friends. My family used to say exactly the same thing when I was a teenager.
For me, it was a lack of confidence that prevented me from engaging in constant social activity during those years. But, four years at university with a group of incredibly sociable friends has crushed that lack of confidence.
Yet, I still find myself most comfortable in a quiet environment.
On the introvert-extrovert spectrum, I fall just off-centre towards the introvert side — an ambivert, I believe the term is. I enjoy social interaction but I don’t crave it. I’m happy to go to parties but I need to recharge after them, and I have no problem skipping things that my friends are going to if I don’t fancy it.
A lot of people don’t get it. Why would anyone want to spend time alone? They can’t process the idea that people are happy doing their own thing.
Extroverts seem to think that every introvert is a secret extrovert just waiting to come out of their shell. They believe that those that enjoy being by themselves are rare and must be sad or lonely.
