I woke all the way up from my bed to open my laptop at this hour(3:24am) just because I can't stop wondering about being an introvert thingy. Anyway, I just read my senior tweets that talks about being an introverts which really attracted me (not only because i'm one of them), but yesterday, I just met someone I barely know, it also got me thinking..though it rarely happens, but when I do, I always end up feel like..meet new people has always been such a challenging thing to me, how interesting it is to do some attribution and get to know more about what kind of person exists in this world. As a psychology student, I learned that essentially, being an introvert is such a person who'd rather to be alone than in crowd, or as people roughly known, introverts are so full of themselves and don't like people. BUT it is so much more than that.
Before I understand that there are appellations for these kind of human type, (introvert, extrovert even ambivert), I knew that there's something different with my self if I compare to another people, in this case, about being such a genuine introvert. I prefer spending time alone or with one/two close friends, I concentrate best when alone, I feel that I gain energy and strength from being alone. I don't even care every time people said "what so good about eating alone at restaurant?", "you like to travel somewhere all by yourself? don't you have any friend?", "are you an anti-social?", and so forth.
I would love to meet people, I would love to spend my time with people whom I love, I called it forever independent instead of forever alone. I don't even think about that so called "me time", cause I know it always been My Time. Means, I realized that I own my-time, and I really know how to spend it, what I want to do, who I want to meet.
I searched many information about this, and the more I get to know better, the more I understand what is actually the answer of my questions about the odd thoughts of my own self all this time. And turns out, now I don't feel weird at all but awesome. Here are some explanation about it:
Introvert Definition: Contrary to what most people think, an introvert is
not simply a person who is shy. In fact, being shy has little to do with
being an introvert. Shyness has an element of apprehension, nervousness
and anxiety, and while an introvert may also be shy, introversion
itself is not shyness. Basically, an introvert is a person who is
energized by being alone and whose energy is drained by being around
other people. Introverts are more concerned with the inner world of the mind. They
enjoy thinking, exploring their thoughts and feelings. They often avoid
social situations because being around people drains their energy. This
is true even if they have good social skills. After being with people
for any length of time, such as at a party, they need time alone to
"recharge." When introverts want to be alone, it is not, by itself, a sign of
depression. It means that they either need to regain their energy from
being around people or that they simply want the time to be with their
own thoughts. Being with people, even people they like and are
comfortable with, can prevent them from their desire to be quietly
introspective. Being introspective, though, does not mean that an introvert never has
conversations. However, those conversations are generally about ideas
and concepts, not about what they consider the trivial matters of social
small talk.
Introverts face challenges in the meeting-people arena.
For one, speaking very generally, we tend not to be big risk takers.
We're not likely to strike up conversations just for the hell of it
because we're so averse to banal conversation. We turn down invitations
we're not gung-ho about, which may cause us to limit our socializing to
the same people. We take a while to decide about people and warm up to
them, which means meeting someone interesting at a party may or may not
go anywhere because our time with them is limited.
So we need to be aware of ways we might get in our own way. Sometimes
you just have to stick your neck out either by reaching out to people,
or by somehow making yourself appear approachable.
(Source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-introverts-corner/201202/survey-says-how-meet-new-people)
And this is what I said before, interesting thoughts that I couldn't agree more or less. Written by my senior:
"Being introvert is hard, we're living in the world with majority of
extrovert, the world that loves to talk when what we need is silence. The worst talker is the one who bragging their life, which is actually not an life-accomplishment. I mean who wants to hear your perception of braggable (its not a word,
but you know) stuff in your life, some of them are not even worth it. What I hate is, because extroverts is a majority, the introverts one is consider to be weird or not normal. Just because we don't like to go to party, meeting a group of people, or
saying hi everytime we meet friends, doesn't mean we're weird. We do like talking... but when we comfortable with the person, when its not... why bother? And some of us even really good in leading or even publicly speaking. Just don't force us to be an extrovert like the rest of you... you're all not that good.. As an introvert, I don't like small talk, not because I don't like people, but I don't feel comfort without the intimacy. I prefer what really want to know, a meaningful one. I don't blame extroverts at all, just some of them who like to force introverts to be one of them. There is nothing wrong about being an introverts or extroverts, both has their own profits and disadvantages. One more thing, research has found that introverts exhibit increased brain activity when
processing visual information, as compared to extroverts."
(Source: https://twitter.com/arlogy)
And you can open this one for Indonesian version I found that talks about it:
So, that's all..
I guess what i'm trying to say is..
Everybody's got their stuff, whether it's being an introvert or extrovert..
Just don't ever judge someone before you really know who they are. No one is perfect..
we may don't like someone's behavior, all we can do is trying to understand what's behind them that makes thing happened that way. Open our eyes, heart, mind.. so we wouldn't underestimate someone or something anymore.
And, Chillax! Cause as long as we can appreciate who we are, we can love ourselves and live nicely.
:D
With love and concern,
-Pishella Suryoputri-