Maybe it was all those Meyers-Briggs personality evaluations that said the exact same thing. Maybe it was my overwhelming sadness when I’m around lots of people. Maybe it was my new favorite blog, Introverted Church. Whatever it was, I have come to realize a very important fact: There is a word for what I am, and it’s not a disorder. It’s just introversion. Lots of people are this way. Who knew?
Seriously, our culture seems to place a much higher value on extroversion right now. If there is a problem people have in their life, the answer we’re given is almost always something extroverted. Don’t like your job? Go out and find a new one — it’s up to you! That job not making enough money for you? Get a second one! Need more attention? Sell yourself! Don’t like your marriage? Communicate more! Life is boring? Find something you’re passionate about and do it! Follow your heart and don’t care about what other people say! Need something? Don’t take no for an answer! In a funk? Do something and think about it later! Live a better story, for Pete’s sake!
See what I mean? I’m oversimplifying here, as always, but that’s totally what we hear every day, right? Is there any other way to make it in this world besides constantly “putting yourself out there”? Is it even a worthwhile question? Isn’t introversion just another word for not taking responsibility for things?
No. I wrote a while back, I think as a Facebook status message, that I’m learning the valuable lesson that not everything in life is my responsibility. In fact, as I go through life, I’m quite surprised at what my actual responsibilities are, in comparison to what I’ve been led to believe. It doesn’t help that people are fighting to hold me responsible for things every day — at my job, in my interactions with people, and in ads for some worthwhile cause. It’s easy to make a case that something is important, and nearly impossible (not to mention socially suicidal) to prove that case wrong. Take, for example, the current BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. If we didn’t drive cars, none of this would have happened. It’s our responsibility, therefore, to clean it up. Just because we drove cars. I cant think of a way to defeat this argument without taking some sort of political stand against government involvement in private business, something that seems beside the point right now. So…
Wait. I’m not really responsible for that, and me contemplating doing something about it is wasted thought. You know what isn’t wasted thought? Thinking about the implications of drilling in the ocean, and whether or not the risks are worth it. Is it time to all get electric cars? How about mopeds? Introverts can solve these problems if allowed enough time to themselves, but we’re making them Do Something rather than Do What They Do Best.
I’m just discovering what it means to be introverted, and others have waxed far more eloquently on the subject. But I would remind you that it’s not a disorder or even a way of looking at the world — it’s a personality type. Let me chill out in my own way, ok? Jesus went away by himself all the time. Look it up.
I’ve also figured out an important truth from the Bible that really does sound insane, but is nonetheless true. But that’s for another post. How’s that for a tease?
