Personality

A recent blog post by a friend of mine (What is an Introvert) got me thinking about introverts and extroverts again. I'm an introvert and always have been; unless I have time away from people to recharge, I will snap and blow up the world, or something like that. I avoid social situations if I can help it, and meeting new people puts a cannonball of fear through me, especially if they are my age.

Yet, every time I tell a mom I'm babysitting for that I'm more along the quiet introverted type, her response is inevitably, "I never would have guessed that!" I chalk a lot up to being a pastor's kid, having to meet and interact with strange adults on a semi-frequent basis. And the fact that they are adults or children helps; put me with other twenty-somethings and I tend to freeze up. But I'm good at "pretending" to be outgoing, though it isn't always pretense, nor is it always even forced. I can be a chatterbox.

I've known extroverted introverts, but I don't think I'm quite to that point yet. I don't like people enough. But I'm an introvert who thrives off professional (and sometimes social) contact. I'm just starting to realize this, and I don't know what to do with it. (I know, I know: why do I have to do anything with it?) I've always been such an introvert.

In other news, remember the "angel at the park" I met awhile back, the mom who basically adopted me in half an hour? V and I are having dinner at her house tomorrow. She and I have continued to email, and I'm excited to reconnect with her.