Community Chat

[Tinkrbl44]

I haven't read every post, and will come back later to do so.  

Just wanted to add that I could be called either extrovert or introvert by the casual observer.   I don't like those words, or being labeled as such.  

How do I see myself?  

Outgoing at times, but I have a highly developed inner life .....   

[blackhole99]

I don't like putting labels on people, but if I think of someone who is introverted It's someone who likes to be alone and is not forthcoming. I find starting a conversation with someone like that is like pulling teeth and not worth my time. All the people I am attracted to are out going and love to talk. Just today I was at the hospital to have a blood draw and the woman next to me started a conversation and probably shared more with me than she should have. LOL

[Moonchilde]

@chickenbutt, it came to mind because, heaven help me, I had a kitty like that. He loved me and he loved to cuddle up with me, but petting? From purr to fangs-in-flesh in 3.5 seconds.

[chickenbutt]

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Moonchilde wrote:

@chickenbutt, it came to mind because, heaven help me, I had a kitty like that. He loved me and he loved to cuddle up with me, but petting? From purr to fangs-in-flesh in 3.5 seconds.

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I really related to the whole notion.  I've been in situations and a time came when it very quickly went from fun to I NEED OUT ***NOW***  

[Moonchilde]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

I haven't read every post, and will come back later to do so.  

Just wanted to add that I could be called either extrovert or introvert by the casual observer.   I don't like those words, or being labeled as such.  

How do I see myself?  

Outgoing at times, but I have a highly developed inner life .....   

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Not trying to label you either ;-) but that's a description of many Introverts.

[MaggieMack]

I have gotten many questions through the years asking if I'm not bored being alone so much. I always say, "I have never, not once, been bored in my own company. But I have been bored around others." It's true. 

Every personality inventory I have ever taken comes up deep introvert. I'm happy with that. On the Enneagram, I am the Investigator, Buddha and Einstein are in my type. Can't complain about that, either.

[Moonchilde]

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@MaggieMack wrote:

I have gotten many questions through the years asking if I'm not bored being alone so much. I always say, "I have never, not once, been bored in my own company. But I have been bored around others." It's true. 

Every personality inventory I have ever taken comes up deep introvert. I'm happy with that. On the Enneagram, I am the Investigator, Buddha and Einstein are in my type. Can't complain about that, either.

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Well, I won't say I have never, ever been bored in my own company ;-) That's when I go out and do something. But it isn't often.

MBTI and Keirsey are pretty straightforward for me when I test. The Enneagram, with its Wings, has never once been clear-cut for me or even close - I could be 2-3 things, none of them definitively, every time.

[Moonchilde]

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@blackhole99 wrote:

I don't like putting labels on people, but if I think of someone who is introverted It's someone who likes to be alone and is not forthcoming. I find starting a conversation with someone like that is like pulling teeth and not worth my time. All the people I am attracted to are out going and love to talk. Just today I was at the hospital to have a blood draw and the woman next to me started a conversation and probably shared more with me than she should have. LOL

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What is interesting about this from an Introvert's POV (and I sincerely do not mean this to be snarky) is that they are well aware your efforts are like pulling teeth for you, and keeping company with someone who responds to them that way is like having their teeth pulled, for them.  It wouldn't upset them if you passed them by.  As has been said, there are multiple types within Intro/Extro, and there are Extroverts who will kindly be the first to speak, for which most (but not all) Introverts would be grateful. It all works out.

[HomeShoppingLover87]

@Moonchilde "What is interesting about this from an Introvert's POV (and I sincerely do not mean this to be snarky) is that they are well aware your efforts are like pulling teeth for you, and keeping company with someone who responds to them that way is like having their teeth pulled, for them."

Exactly! The implication in that kind of attitude is that the extroverts are doing us a favor by trying to get us to come out of our shell, so why don't we take them up on it by being more gracious?! Because we like our shells! That's the kind of extrovert-centric thinking I was talking about before that got me accused of turning this into an extrovert-bashing thread. 

[Moonchilde]

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@HomeShoppingLover87 wrote:

@Moonchilde "What is interesting about this from an Introvert's POV (and I sincerely do not mean this to be snarky) is that they are well aware your efforts are like pulling teeth for you, and keeping company with someone who responds to them that way is like having their teeth pulled, for them."

Exactly! The implication in that kind of attitude is that the extroverts are doing us a favor by trying to get us to come out of our shell, so why don't we take them up on it by being more gracious?! Because we like our shells! That's the kind of extrovert-centric thinking I was talking about before that got me accused of turning this into an extrovert-bashing thread. 

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No worries, @HomeShoppingLover87 - I was the one accused, not you ;-)

And it is true that some Extroverts will approach Introverts at parties, etc., introduce themselves, ask a conversation-starting question, etc. I was always grateful to them. I was never the totally silent type in conversations with strangers, but in my youth I needed someone else to get the ball rolling.

Age usually improves things for Introverts. You just deal with so many things better with life experience. I might be wrong, but I think Experience in Years Lived ;-) is more important for Introverts than Extroverts, at least socially.