A friend of mine recently said that there are two kinds of people: those that need quiet, alone time to recharge and those that get their energy from being around other people. She corrected herself almost immediately and allowed there are more than two kinds of people but still.
I think that more than two or three or seven kinds of people, it’s all about balance. Some people need more alone time but obviously gain much from being around people. Others may only need a retreat from noise and contact once a month or so, and are otherwise social butterflies. I am, hands down, the former.
Nothing buoys me more than a good visit with a close friend but when it comes to routine, day-to-day endurance, I must have some time alone with my brain.
And so here I am. It’s Sunday morning and I’m at a coffee shop in Canandaigua while Sean and his family are out on the lake. I’ll only be here for another twenty minutes or so but I already feel fuller, charged.
We came up Friday night and spent all day yesterday hanging around Sean’s cottage with his family, eating food and fishing. I dropped my cell phone in the lake and took a two-hour nap. We roasted marshmallows and dipped our toes in the water. A lovely visit, one that will continue when I get back down to the cottage.
One of the things that I love about Sean’s family is that they are accepting of this sort of behavior. There isn’t any guilt attached to napping or staying behind to finish a chapter in a book. It’s the sort of approach that I imagine develops with a big family.
All of this makes me think of this, again.
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Kim - I do consider myself a friendly person, but after enough social contact I definitely need to recharge my batteries. I think of myself as an extrovert, but everyone has to pause and reflect sometime.
courtney - I love how in tune you are with what you need and that you are pro-active in making sure you have it, that you actively seek that balance. I think a lot of people struggle against finding it when they start working around the expectation that you should be social, not unsocial blah blah blah. Rock it, girl.
Aaron - I am endlessly fascinated by people’s differing needs, especially by those who are the most different from myself. My roommate Jesse, for example, is a very social guy. Sometimes I just look at him and think–’Huh. So. . . you _want_ to go to this party. Because loud, manic interpersonal vibrations run amok. . . sounds fun to you. Huh.’
whitney - Kim – Agreed.
C – thanks, bb. Your comment here made me smile.
A – oh my god, I just LOL’d when I read that. I relate to your reaction 1000%.