Introverted Me

Introvert.
There are so many misconceptions concerning the term introvert.
Shy. Awkward. Rude. Unsociable. People hater.
I'm not really any of these things, not much anyway.

So what is an introvert?
Well I can't speak for everyone but I can say this. I like people. I like being around people, sometimes.

The sometimes is what makes a person an introvert.

Extroverts love being around people, they gain energy from interacting with people. Introverts enjoy company but find it all very tiring.

Imagine if you will the rechargeable battery. One battery is introverted, the other extroverted.
Put the extroverted battery in a room by itself and its charge will run low. Place it in a room with other batteries close by and it will begin to charge itself.
The introverted battery is not necessarily comfortable surrounded by too many other batteries and its charge will drop. Once it has spent some time alone though it will recharge.

Now I know I said that introverts aren't necessarily awkward or unsociable, generally we're not. If I spend time with friends at a maximum I want to be around four maybe five people at once, any more and I begin to feel uncomfortable. Especially if I don't know the people that well.
I enjoy myself, being around people, talking to them, I can laugh and joke and carry on conversations but after an hour or so I want to go home. I want to be by myself.

I like my own company, I don't get lonely being by myself. The only time I get lonely is when I have no option to spend time with people, but I suppose that on a sliding scale of introversion I'm not at the bottom end of the scale.

Extroverts hate being alone for too long. They need people, they have huge groups of friends and can go out every night with them without feeling tired.

This past weekend family visited and the day after I just wanted to avoid people, even the ones I live with. I'd had my fill of human interaction and any more would just start to cripple me.

I have a feeling this is becoming more confusing than explanatory.

What introversion is can be confusing and generally society doesn't deal well with introverts. Ever read an article about a spree killer, 99% of the time the person is described as quiet. The implication being that their being an introvert makes them weird, more likely to go insane and kill a lot of people. Extroverts don't enter a crowded building and start shooting.

"It's always the quiet ones" another popular saying that portrays introverts as someone likely to go off the deep end. Somehow sociopathy and psychopathy have become confused with introversion. I'm a gentle soul, I hate violence, I'm a pacifist. If anyone is going to go mad and start killing people it won't be me. I just have a personal bubble that I don't like people entering.

In fact I can honestly say there is one person I enjoy cuddling (and even then there are times when I'd rather not) my fiance. I will give hugs to close friends and family but anything longer than ten seconds and I start to feel uncomfortable. Please don't sit close to me, don't touch me without permission, don't hug me first. Sit next to me at a respectable distance, sit and read with me or watch a movie, I'll be happy with that. Just don't expect me to welcome you into my personal bubble any time soon.

Society can understand the extrovert, the person who goes out to clubs and parties and is the life and soul of the party. The person with a lot of friends. These people are rewarded by society, they are considered normal. Introverts are weird, "it's not normal to want to be by yourself", "what are you doing by yourself in that room?", "why don't you go out like normal people?" it's assumed that we won't find love, we will die of old age surrounded by a dozen cats and nobody will know our name. No family, no children, no friends. The loner who lures children into their house made of sweets and fattens them up to eat.

So what is an introvert? Just someone who doesn't need people to be happy. Understand this and you understand how to interact with us and hopefully this means less assuming we're serial killers.

Hopefully.