For our generation of college students, isolating ourselves is simple. Social media platforms allow us to be comfortable having human interaction from behind our screens. Then, we have things like Netflix and Hulu to keep us entertained all day without leaving the house. For the introverts, these are some pretty great, and necessary, tools.
When people describe an introvert, often the first thing that comes to mind is someone who hides out at home, or doesn’t speak to anyone. This is a stereotype of course; we are a much more complicated species than that. I hope this helps out the introverts and extroverts alike to better understand the weird things we do.
It’s not that we don’t enjoy talking.
We may be quiet on the outside, but once you get to know us we will chat our hearts away. We tend to get talkative if it’s something we are passionate or excited about, and love deep conversations. Silence is cool with us, so we don’t feel the need to create small talk at every chance.
We like to observe.
We like listening and taking in our surroundings. Us introverts enjoy watching people and observing everything that is going on around us. Many of us like nature for this reason; long walks on the beach, hikes through the forest, those kinds of things.
Being an introvert and being shy don’t always go hand in hand.
Introverts are often called shy. Often times we aren’t afraid to talk, we are just reserved and most likely thinking about what else being said. For the non-shy introverts, there is nothing more annoying than being called shy because you simply aren’t talking. Just sayin'!
We need time to recharge.
We literally NEED down time in between events to stay calm. Having time between seeing people or between shifts at work is necessary for an introvert. We start to get stressed when we don’t have time to ourselves, or time with significant people in our lives.
We probably own a cat.
It's true, cats are connected to our souls some how. They can comfort us, keep us company without a single word, and are close to their chosen human and no-one else. Our furry friends can be dogs too, but cats relate to introverts more than most dogs do. It makes sense, if you think about it.
We enjoy our space.
There is nothing that will annoy an introvert more than invading their space or recharge time. Unless you are invited or our furry friend, try to respect the personal space we create for ourselves.
We tend to make plans…but not always keep them.
Us introverts are pretty good at planning on things; itineraries come to us like clockwork. But sometimes, the time will come and we just aren’t ready for the social interaction. If we haven’t had that recharge time, the risk of a last minute cancellation will rise. It is easy for an extrovert to look at this sort of situation and just think ‘man they're boring’ or ‘no surprise, they canceled again’. Just know its not something we feel good about doing. We know we would have fun if we went, but its not the right time for our brains.
You will be glad you got to know us.
We are tough to get to know, but worth it. Once you break through our barrier and earn our coveted trust, you will discover all the mysteries of the introvert you have been trying to understand. We will tell you everything, really, and you'll be glad you opened up. Not everyone will understand us and that makes us unique: we are thoughtful, compassionate, and extremely good listeners. Those all seem like pretty good friend material to me.
We are happy with having a few close friends.
Here's the thing: we're selective about what we spend our time doing. If we don't think something is worth our time, then we are not going to do it, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. This includes relationships. Thus, an introvert tends to have a few friends they can devote their time to. Along with that, we would much rather have fun spending a night with our closest friends than going out to a party with tons of people we don't know.
People think we are rude
There have been countless times we have been told "When I first met you I thought you were so mean, but you're actually the nicest person ever!". Again, all of our rude looks or mean mugs we give out coincide with the rest of our qualities; it's not that we're being rude, rather, a combination of other traits.
Hopefully this gives the world a better understanding of the mysteries of the introverts out there. If you take anything away from this letter, hopefully it is that everyone is different. We may be quick to make assumptions, but maybe we just don't understand each other.
