Introvert? Yes.

If you know me, you may think that I am an outgoing person. If you have worked with me, you've seen me interact with customers and co-workers alike, and you've seen that I tend to ham things up a bit. I think it's probably overcompensation for my generally introverted nature. I'm at work and being paid to interact with customers. What customer wants to deal with a shy and quiet cheesemonger? This is not to say that I'm pretending to have a good time. I do (or did?) like being at work. And you'll know when I'm not having a good time at work because I generally say things like "kill me now" or "I'm living the dream today...."

But this weekend I was reminded that being around people exhausts me. This weekend I went to a conference. A conference filled with like-minded individuals. A hotel filled with people who like the same things that I do. And boy oh boy was it exhausting. People wear me out. I came home the first day, cooked up a bowl of pasta, ate the pasta, and passed out on the couch for 4 hours. I was drained.

For the second day, I decided I would only attend the afternoon workshops. I got up and had a leisurely breakfast before heading out to catch the 12:04 train to the city. Ten minutes into the train ride I realized that I absolutely did not want to go to the conference again, even though I learned so much on the first day.

I realized that riding the train (surrounded by people), walking to the hotel (bustling past people), and sitting in ballrooms (surrounded by people) was ultimately going to take a psychological toll on me that I wasn't prepared to pay. So I got off in Ardmore, got an iced mocha, and took the next train back to Paoli. 

In a situation like that, it's hard not to ask "what is wrong with me?!" I kept tabs on the conference via twitter, and though I was sad that I hadn't gone, I was happier to be at home.

I forgot that I am an introvert at heart, and although I like people interacting with them can be exhausting. And there's nothing wrong with that. I am adding Quiet: The Power of Introverts to my summer reading list and you should check out the website to learn more about how introverts work. It's not that we don't like you, we just don't want to be around you. Or at least not around all of you at once!