Crave solitude?

Most people who know me would not believe that I am an introvert. Of the 23 signs on the Are you an Introvert list, I have 20.

How is that possible, I know you’re saying.

“You’re so outgoing.”

“You’re the mayor of Montclair. You know everybody in town.”

Even my kids can get confused. When we go out, whether it’s a stop at CVS or a bite an a local restaurant, before we leave home they say, “and don’t talk to anybody.”

As a child, I was super shy. Or I thought I was, but there’s a difference between being shy and being an introvert. Generally speaking, shy is a psychological condition that can come with anxiety and fear of social interactions. According to American Heritage dictionary, shy means being easily startled, timid; drawing back from contact or familiarity with others; retiring or reserved; distrustful; wary.

One of the things that separates the shy from the introverted, according to Sophia Dembling, author of The Introverts Way (Perigee), introverts simply need, crave solitude.

The article www.huffingtonpost.com 23 Signs You’re Secretly An Introvert, is based on her book.

Here’s just a few of the signs that screamed my name:

1. I hate small talk; chatter about milk prices, weather, the neighbor’s grass, makes me want to claw the skin on my face. You want to talk about the neighbors’ divorce–you got my attention–and not for the gossip aspect. I enjoy the dissection of human interaction. What went wrong and why.

2. I go to parties to see people I know, not necessarily to make new friends. I will have a deep conversation with a stranger or enjoy one with someone I don’t know well–but it’s someone on the same vibe, probably another introvert who also hates small talk.

3. I sometimes feel alone in a crowd, feeling like the odd person out. I hate crowds, although that’s not quite the same thing as feeling alone in them. I sometimes feel that way too, but I’ve come to feel pretty good about being odd.

4. Although I can do it, networking makes me feel like a phony or some kind of person I don’t know. When I have to go on the road to promote my work, I shift into the outgoing one that I learned to be in college, but when I am performing this act, I can’t easily shift back into my writer self.

5. & 18. I’ve been called too intense & an old soul

6. I’m easily overwhelmed in environments with excess stimulation. I’m easily overwhelmed, period. It should be on my tomestone: She was often overwhelmed

7. Downtime can feel unproductive to extroverts, for me this is as necessary as oxygen

8. Speaking to 500 people is easier than mingling with 10 afterward. Lady Gaga says she’s an introvert. Introverts can want to be on stage, but after the performance there’s no going to an after party. It’s right to the hotel, home, the closet wherever, to get that delicious alone time.

11. Introverts are usually in a relationship with an extrovert. My husband is the poster child for extroverts.

22. You’re a writer

JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, said she is creatively charged when she’s alone with her thoughts.

This is why when I got married and was working as the entertainment editor at Essence, I thought something was very wrong with me. I would talk all day, in meetings, on the phone with writers, publicists pitching stories; then have to go out at night to see what was newsworthy in the theater, movies, dance, art. I would come home too tired to talk to my husband. On Saturdays I didn’t want to get out of bed, which was fine when I was single, but as a newly married couple, Cliff wanted to go and do things on the weekends. I wanted to sit home with a book. Obviously in 21 years, we’ve worked out our differences (you can read all about how when Welcome to My Breakdown, the book, comes out in May), but it was a challenge.

When my kids were little, the hard part for me wasn’t just the no sleep, it was also that I was never alone. I don’t know if introvert-ness is inherited, but one of my children is just like me. The other one is mixed.

Understanding oneself is a good, necessary thing, at least from where I sit. I believe we are all better when we know who we are. I want to understand my nature and human nature. I am highly sensitive and I’m sure for some, I can be difficult to figure out.

I’m on a quest to show up as the most honest and true me that I can. I believe it’s something we should all try to do. My friend Carmen calls it, Standing in your Truth.

After many years of struggling because I didn’t understand my introvert-ness, of being exhausted or unhappy running here and there, I have decided to stop.

I know that I have to have solitude. If I do too much socializing (as much as I like a good cocktail party) I will become irritated and depressed and then I have to take to my bed.

I’ve finally figured out what works for me. I simply can’t go all the time and sometimes I have to say no and sometimes I have to say no to things that I want to do. I know that it’s hard to understand because we’re living in extrovert land. Sometimes I may hurt the feelings of people I care about because they just don’t understand how delicate balance of being an introvert in an extroverts land is–how being thrown off by doing too much, isn’t as simple as climbing back on a bike after a fall.

I have to protect me, even though in the past I’ve disregarded that part of me and probably even hidden that part from you.

So, do you think you could be one of us?

I’d love to hear from you.