Riese’s Team Pick:

You know when you find a word that you’ve always known, but never thought about too much, and then you read something about that word and you’re like OH MY GOD, THAT’S ME!  That’s how I felt about the word “introvert” when I read this a few months ago. That’s me! I used to use words like hermit, loner, socially awkward, anti-social, weirdo, etc. and I read Party Of One and related to most of it but not all of it. But “Myths About Introverts” just really nailed it. Like this:

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

And also:

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.

…and I was like — Oh! Seriously, thank you for the affirmation! Really that whole article comforted me. Why is that? Why are we so comforted to be un-alone about being alone? Some of you out there in this wild wild world don’t know what it was like for introverts before the internet. It was so different.  When you were alone you were really truly irreversibly alone. But I always wanted to be alone, to do crafts or write or read. It was actually okay with me, but it wasn’t okay with everyone else.

However, when I’m around the right people it can be even better than being alone. And like Susan Cain in the TED Talks video that this post is about, I always tend to date extroverts. Somebody has to call the pizza guy, you know?

Anyhow, I really enjoyed this video which I saw on Nextness (which our lovely Music Editor Crystal directed me to), and this video is the reason I wrote this post.