Category: Introvert

Solitude and community, I need them both~

10/6/2013

Preparations for Pope Francis in Assisi.

I’m about settled back into my home routine. Here are some of the solitary things going on with me.

     First there are the little things: walking up at a reasonable time. This morning it was 5:30, my favorite and usual rising time. No more 4 AM until I travel again. Just too early.

      Then there are the big things: The Pope in Assisi. It was just a week ago today that my daughter and I took the train from Florence to Assisi, preceding Pope Francis by four days, viewing the preparations in front of the Basilica of St. Francis. Regardless of your religious/spiritual stance, you have to be hopeful. Any talk about love and helping the poor has got to be good energy for the planet.

       And of course there are the things in between: getting rid of some stuff in the parlor (I’ve reactivated my blog http://lettingofstuff.blogspot.com/) , my writing at the library, making apple sauce, and the Red Sox.

     But right now off I’m to church to settle into the social routine of my life. Solitude and community, I need them both.

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I wanna be that someone~

7/29/2013

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No, I didn't snap this one.

I love what Thomas Merton wrote: “Someone has to try to keep his head clear of static and preserve the interior solitude and silence that are essential for independent thought.” I want to be that someone. In fact, from time to time I’m sure we all want to be that someone.

For me, being that someone is why I sit in silence and solitude and try to simplify my life. If you see me out in public, you’d never know it because I have a fairly well-developed extroverted side. Obviously, no one ever sees the real introverted me. The closest you can come is reading this blog and knowing that I sometimes go off for days to be alone. It’s during those time that I try to keep my head clear of static, static generated by the news or by excessive social and family chatter. It during those times that my independent thought claims that essential me. OR, is it the other way around?

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Confronting poignancy~

4/28/2013

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It’s taking me a few days to settle down after my wonderful, yet active, visit to DC with my sisters. Now to ease into the silence, solitude and simplicity that helps me get in touch with my deeper, more honest self—well as honest I can be.

       When I am involved in too much extrovert activity I’m more apt to wake up with a sadness, a poignancy. It happens to all humans, for it’s part of the human condition, but it’s worth examining. For me this poignancy happens when I put out too much ego energy, when I count on my accomplishments to define who I am, when I start acting and believing that my self-importance trumps everything. This sadness reminds me that I need silence, solitude and simplicity in order to go to that soul place It’s a call for humility.

      Sometimes humility is easy to come by. Last night there was the Johannes Brahms Festival Spring Concert at church, with an array of performer from ages 5 to 95. And today there is a pristine spring day. Early April showers are giving way to May flowers.

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From the deck

12/14/2012

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Yesterday I did what this blog is all about. In the cottage I sat in silence, solitude and simplicity. Same thing while walking the beach. Then this morning, while watching yet another sunrise from the outside deck, I called ‘good morning’ to my neighbor. A typically congenial conversation about the weather followed-- I can only describe it as a kind of silence. Let me explain. In the four years that I’ve been coming here the only exchange I’ve had with these neighbors was when early on I introduced myself while passing them on the sidewalk. Since then, as we’ve come and gone, I’ve tried to make eye contact. Nothing. It has felt like the air has been filling up with ‘silent noise.’ But no more. The noise of silence is gone, hopefully to be replaced by a silent morning wave.

Today I return home to a more noisy, social and complicated life. No complaints. I’m very grateful for the two worlds I live in.

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Introvert/Extrovert?

5/6/2012

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A few days ago I took the DISC personality test and was surprised that I scored high in what I consider the extrovert category. Here’s part of the summary:

You are socially oriented. You have a strong self-motivation to get to know people in all walks of life and to nurture those relationships.
You have a natural enthusiasm for all types of ideas and projects - your own and other people's.
People are likely to describe you as gregarious, persuasive and optimistic.

     But what about my cottage by the sea? What about the me who looks for silence, solitude and simplicity and who sometimes likes to be alone? What about my Meyers-Briggs score that says that I am right in the middle on the extrovert/introvert continuum?

    According to the DISC personality test, I also like freedom, independence and new experiences, and so it is through these descriptors that I begin to understand how this introvert/extrovert split works for me. I like the independence and freedom of the cottage, where I can hang an introvert; but then I come home to a more social life, during which time I have more opportunities to exercise the extrovert in me.

    There is much to sort out here. Just when I think I understand myself, new insights, theories, even personality tests, come along. Everyone who knows me says that I am more extroverted than introverted, that I am definitely a social being. Well, of course, when they are around, that’s how I act, that’s what they observe. Obviously people never see me during the many solitary times that I carve into my daily routine.

     I’m probably more of an extrovert than I thought. Maybe the truth is that, as the tests say, I am both introvert and extrovert, and that thankfully I seem to nurture and live in both arenas. Come to think of it this blog fit me perfectly.

      Give it a try~

http://www.123test.com/disc-personality-test/

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Two sides of the coin~

1/26/2012

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      I’m back at the cottage, happy with the silence, solitude and simplicity, but equally delighted with my every day life back at home. I think of these ways of being as my ‘Maine life’ and my ‘Massachusetts life’. They are two side of the same coin, each side shining with its particular details and language--introvert/extrovert; private/public; solitary/social.
      At different times in my life I have expressed one side of the currency more than the other. Tapping into my extrovert side was inherent in raising a family and in succeeding in my career. In fact, teaching kindergarten calls for more non-stop extrovert energy than most jobs. Just try to going into your own space with a class of five year olds milling about!
      These days I am accessing more of my introvert side. Is this a life-stage tendency or personal propensity? I think both. Although I like to be alone, I also like to hang out with family and friends and to visit people, many of whom can’t get out and about on their own, and thus have lost some of the choice that I take for granted.

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Solitude and community, I need them both~

I wanna be that someone~

Confronting poignancy~

From the deck

Introvert/Extrovert?

Two sides of the coin~

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