1. My blog post on being introverted (here) attracted two lovely emails. One was from D. Mc who was a year behind me in high school and the other from a student at Whitworth College. Along with commenter John from Tennessee, we could have started an Introvert's Club...except we could never have meetings because we would all want to spend time in solitude.
2. My blog post on being introverted triggered a wonderful discussion at the dinner table tonight. Mom, the Deke, and I talked about introversion and maybe the Deke and I make more sense to my mom now. At Mom's house, Deke and I spend quite a few hours in separate rooms, either reading or watching television or writing. The Deke only lasted about an hour at Saturday's reunion picnic. The hour exhausted her. The time the Deke and I spend together is good, but we both prefer a lot of time alone. I don't think many of the thousands of books on successful marriages suggest this approach. They all have married couples yakking at each other day and night. We prefer being quiet.
3. My blog post on introversion triggered a nice talk between me and Silver Valley Girl. She is so right: most teachers are introverts. It's funny. You'd think it would be the opposite. But, most teachers are reflective, imaginative, and intuitive. Outside the classroom, many are quiet. It's odd to me that many people think that it's a natural move for a teacher/instructor/professor to go from the classroom to administration. For this introvert, my one year of administration was very difficult: not quite a nightmare, but bordering. It's a funny world.
4 comments:
I'm pleased to announce that you are the recipient of the coveted Blogger Reflection Award. Now go pick up your prize at Brodh2o. Happy Wednesday.
Every one of the English teachers at our high school tested out as Introverted, but that wasn't true of all areas at the school.
Anyone who loves literature is probably going to need time alone to read, so I don't see how they can be anything but introverted.
But I don't think being introverted means you always want to be alone. After I retired, I soon missed talking to people daily and found excuses to join some groups, though I do spend more time alone now than I did when I taught and enjoy that time immensely.
I have thought and read about this whole topic a lot since you have blogged about it. Two things I have focused on... how hard it is for an introvert to think they are an extrovert for many years then realize they weren't and how exhausting that was and is just thinking about it. Also, age seems to play into this. I don't know if getting older means getting wiser and coming to terms with introvert vs. extrovert or do people actually change what they are? Remember years ago when we took those tests at my house in Kennewick? I pulled the book and those out when I began thinking about it this week . Ummmm... it may have to be a topic of conversation on sibling outing day.
I like what you said about married couples. I think we each need our space. My husband has always encouraged me to go out with the girls (usually lunch, Bible Studies, or Mary Kay meetings) because he realizes that I need to connect with other women sometimes. At home, we usually spend our evenings in our respective studies on our respective computers. We are comfortable with having our own space, and we are not threatened by being our own persons.
We still take time to talk, and watch a movie or go out - but as a couple we aren't "driven." He is quite active, but I don't care as long as I don't have to participate all the time.
I have known some couples that expect their partner to participate in all their activities - ie, "Sit on the couch and watch this movie with me, now." "Let's go hiking for 10 miles today in the back country." These things are okay if you share the enjoyment, but if you don't - watch the movie alone, or find a buddy to hike with, etc.
If your foundation is caring for the other person's needs, you won't be threatened if they play computer games while you watch "Terminator".
Good stuff, Pert.
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