Like many others, for the majority of my life (well... for as long as I knew what this word even meant) I labelled myself as an introvert- nothing new, especially not in a society surrounded by just that: labels. Whether it be sexuality, gender, personality, introvert or extrovert in today's post... we seem to have some sort of obsession with attaching a label and and adjective to ourselves- but maybe that's just me, correct me if I'm wrong! In today's post, I'll be talking about intro and extroversion, the differences, and my recent experiences; so, if you're just as fascinated about this topic as I am, it's time to scroll down!
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As I mentioned above, for as long as I knew what the word meant, I categorised myself as an introvert. But what is an introvert? According to the Oxford Dictionary, a shy, reticent person- contrasting to the extrovert, an outgoing, socially confident person. Me? I'd never have thought to categorise myself as an outgoing or socially confident person; for as long as I can remember, I was the girl who always got told to put her hand up more in class and that I don't speak enough- to this day... true to an extent. The longer I dwell on it, though, the longer I realise that in some ways... I tried to keep myself in that label. Surely I couldn't go from the muted mouse to an outspoken and somewhat obnoxious Gabija overnight? Perhaps not, but what I wasn't realising was that it's okay to be shy, and it's okay to like your own company... but it's also okay to love to socialise and spend time with others- and get the odd 'cabin fever' every now and then.
That's the thing with introversion, it's often mistaken as plain shyness- when introversion is more about enjoying your own company as well as that of somebody else's, whereas an extrovert adores the company of others. It works both ways though, you can be confident and be an introvert, or shy and be an extrovert who cannot stand staying at home by themselves and love the company of others. Extroverts are stimulated in social situations, and introverts can become over-stimulated in social situations, but shy people... well from personal experience, I can tell you that shy people can desperately want to communicate with others but sometimes don't know how, or are afraid to. So, say you love to hang around with your close friends but get anxious around a group of people you don't get on with, there's no reason why you can't be a shy extrovert.
Too often, we are told there's introversion and extroversion- but what about the in between? It took me a while to realise that this even existed, and what inspired this post was a conversation between my friend and I- where we spoke about how we were outgoing introverts and shy extroverts, and guess what? That's okay! To that friend, thank you for highlighting an issue I never thought to speak about on my blog- and I don't know if it's just me here, but I feel we are often told the labels without being told the in-between and that it's okay to not fit a label perfectly. After all, it's just a label am I right?
Well, that's the end of my short Wednesday ramble- let me know your thoughts in the comments below and see you all soon for another post!
That's the thing with introversion, it's often mistaken as plain shyness- when introversion is more about enjoying your own company as well as that of somebody else's, whereas an extrovert adores the company of others. It works both ways though, you can be confident and be an introvert, or shy and be an extrovert who cannot stand staying at home by themselves and love the company of others. Extroverts are stimulated in social situations, and introverts can become over-stimulated in social situations, but shy people... well from personal experience, I can tell you that shy people can desperately want to communicate with others but sometimes don't know how, or are afraid to. So, say you love to hang around with your close friends but get anxious around a group of people you don't get on with, there's no reason why you can't be a shy extrovert.
Too often, we are told there's introversion and extroversion- but what about the in between? It took me a while to realise that this even existed, and what inspired this post was a conversation between my friend and I- where we spoke about how we were outgoing introverts and shy extroverts, and guess what? That's okay! To that friend, thank you for highlighting an issue I never thought to speak about on my blog- and I don't know if it's just me here, but I feel we are often told the labels without being told the in-between and that it's okay to not fit a label perfectly. After all, it's just a label am I right?
Well, that's the end of my short Wednesday ramble- let me know your thoughts in the comments below and see you all soon for another post!
