I’ve always known I’m an introvert to the core. Give me a couple hours alone, with or without a book or a nap, and I’ll come back full of life.
Not to say I don’t like people. A coffee date with a friend or speaking in front of a group is life-giving to me too. But not in the same way — I still need that alone space even after invigorating interactions with people.
That’s how I know I’m an introvert and not an extrovert.
But something I’ve realized in the last few months that I’d never considered before: I’m a verbal processor.
It struck me after a long conversation with a friend who identified as one. We talked through some hard things, and while I was exhausted and wanted my alone time afterward, at the same time my head also felt much much clearer than it had before our conversation.
Apparently you can still learn new things about yourself even when you’re 40.
It makes sense, considering how beneficial journaling is for me and how overwhelmed my brain gets when I haven’t had a date with my husband or coffee with a friend in awhile.
And it’s why I keep coming back to writing.
I’m not making any sort of “I’m back!” announcement, or even giving any sort of “here’s what I hope to accomplish in this online space”. All I can say is I’ll be playing around with words again here on my website, on my Substack newsletter, and on Instagram. Maybe I’ll post the exact same thing in all three places. Maybe I’ll find different things for each.
But I’ve realized my brain needs a place to put words together, or else I’ll go crazy. 🙂
Are you an introvert or extrovert? How about a verbal processor? Leave a comment and let me know!
Thank you Kate and Five Minute Friday. Today’s word prompt “realize” was a great one.
This is something oh too true
that I must say beneath the steeple
or in the confessional pew,
that I really can’t stand people.
Give me dogs and cats, a cow,
a donkey with mouth full of grass,
for they really don’t know how
to be a 24 carat ass.
Some call me unsociable,
a pagan who scorns what Christ taught,
but through life my heart came full
of ‘friendships’ that all came to naught,
and I’ll take beasts, if you will please
way before The Least Of These.
I generally tend more towards extrovert, but I can get ‘peopled out’ too and need my quiet and alone time. It’s interesting that we can still get new insights into ourselves no matter how old we are! Visiting from FMF#8 today.
After reading the book, Visual Thinking by Temple Grandin, I can say that I am a verbal thinker but my husband is a visual-spatial thinker. It was illuminating!