Most people know that an Introvert is seen as a shy person, who recoils at most social activities; while an extrovert is seen as more of a life of the party type person. Now I myself, like many others, are not necessarily an introvert or an extrovert. Now I see myself as an outgoing introvert which is something more and more people are seeing themselves as, but not everyone really knows what this means because it is in a sense a contradictory term. But I am going to explain what I feel that, that term means to me and why I label myself as such.
I love to talk to people, I can talk for hours on end, but depending on the environment it can tire me out. What I mean by this is that I can meet new people and listen to stories, I can talk to people I feel close too, but going out and spending time with many different people at many different places is out of the realm of possibilities for me. I have to have down time from people, being in a social situation for a long time drains me in a sense, and makes me feel the need to sit alone for a while and read or write; to take time for myself and do things that will recharge me and allow me to feel like the normal outgoing me again.
Certain people do not drain me, though. Anyone that I see as a close friend I can spend hours on end with and never feel drained. But if I'm in a big social situation with many people that I do not connect with I quickly want to get away and be on my own. I feel the most comfortable when I am able to have conversations that are not necessarily seen as small talk but as more intellectual and somewhat deep conversations. Which I think is the reason why being with people that are close do not make me want to get away from social interaction.
Another thing about being an outgoing introvert, besides the fact that social situations are a hit or miss for me, deals with phones and social media. Sure I'm a millennial which gives the idea that "I'm always on my phone and can not stay away from it because it is my lifeline". Now I have to completely disagree with the previously stated assumption that many people put to millennials. By being somewhat of an introvert means that I have days where I do not use my phone, nor social media; even if I use those too much they can be draining (which is the reason I'm sometimes bad at texting/snap chatting back, sorry everyone). But on the other hand, I have days where I only spend time on my phone and social media.
Being an outgoing introvert really depends on the day. Some days I love social interaction and being able to talk about whatever I'm thinking, but other days I spend most of my time in my room reading/writing and removing all ties with the world. So maybe by reading this articles some things I wrote about connected with you and maybe you found out that you also identify with this label. Even if you do not relate at all, I hope I enlightened you on something you might not have really known about.
