World Introvert Day
Happy New Year everyone. I hope everyone had a fantastic 2023, and I wish you all the best in 2024. I am on my last week of break from grad school; classes resume on Monday. I have two months off this year as I am delaying my practicum until 2025. Both months will be great for working, getting some medical things taken care of, and resetting my grad school battery.
Today is World Introvert Day, and writing a post about being an introvert seemed fitting. This post will go over things that I indulged in today and some ideas for things you can do.
Planned some alone time.
I love my alone time; I am alone 90% of the time anyway. I woke up early (think 5:40am) for my Do Not Disturb morning routine. I made my bed, had tea and toast, wrote in my brain dump journal, and did my skincare/makeup and hair. I took my time doing all these things, minus the hair/makeup part, because even if I do take my time, it doesn’t take me more than 30 min. During all this, I had my AirPods and calming worship music playing. The perfect way for me to spend my morning.
Used my guilty pleasures of avoidance.
My guilty pleasures of avoidance are anything when I have my AirPods in. My phone is always on some form of Do Not Disturb, so I got that covered. I love reading books, watching TV shows or going on long walks (the latter is out for now as I’m having painful CRPS/FND issues in my right ankle).
1. I spent a good chunk of my afternoon in bed, reading a book (Throat by R.A. Nelson. A girl with epilepsy gets turned into a vampire. My group chat said that book was meant for me). I had my tea and a cosy fire cabin ambience on my TV. It was the most comfortable, romantic thing I’ve ever done for myself. I can see this becoming a regular thing in my life.
2. The two things above are how I rest…aside from naps. Escapism into books or TV shows allows me to enter a new reality, and I don’t have to return to the future until I want to.
3. I also did not use my phone all day. I ignored texts and did not look at social media. Nothing. I had to keep my phone on to stay in touch with my parents (aka my ride), but everyone else who messaged me got ghosted. I have no shame in that.
Deep conversations (with people who energise you).
If anyone knows me, as both the Enneagram 4 and the INFJ, you know I haaateee small talk. It’s so pointless. Today, I met up with my sister (also a fellow introvert) and had a deep conversation. The kind of conversations that I love and ones that energise me. I love spending time with her, but it’s hard because we live in different cities, she’s married, and I am still at home, medically unable to drive. Once I can drive and move to the city, I know she and I’ll spend more time together.
A day-in…or day-out
Spending the morning with my sis was my ideal introvert-day-out. We went to our favourite tea place, chatted and then went to Whole Foods together. Despite not buying anything there, I feel so fancy walking around Whole Foods — it’s the vibes for me.
I then had my ideal introvert day-in. I read my book in my room and watched some TV (currently finishing Hanna on Prime and Degrassi: New Class on Netflix). I also ended up crashing majorly and slept a lot in the afternoon.
Socialising…with your fictional and animal besties
I love good moments of socialising with my fictional besties. I spent a lot of time with Celaena Sardothien from Throne of Glass, so I decided to give my other fictional bestie some love this time.
Nausicaä from A Dark and Hollow Star. She reminds me a lot of myself. I love spending time with her, but it is complicated because each chapter in the series has a different POV. I’ve tried reading that book repeatedly, but it just doesn’t stick — likely because of how massive it is. With this series in particular, I like listening to the audiobook. It was easier for me to spend time with her this way because each character in the series is narrated by a different person, so I could really “hear” Nausicaä as if she was with me physically.
Ideas
Conduct an energy audit.
I did not do this yesterday, but I plan to do it more often this year.
An energy audit means looking at your life and seeing what energies and drains you. You can start this by making two lists, one that brings you peace and joy and the other that drains you. With the happy list, try to incorporate it into your daily life. With the second list, see how you can cut back on those things.
I often do an energy audit to see how the people in my life affect me. They stay in my life if they suit me mentally, socially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. If they are not those things, I distance myself from them.
Commit to building new routines and habits.
This year, I am committed to my new morning habit of waking up early, and yesterday was no exception.
I am trying to wake up early in the morning, so I have more time for myself, especially when I have work. I would love an extra 30 minutes to do a brain dump (when I write out everything on my mind when I wake up), read, stretch, etc. I hate being rushed and waking up an hour before leaving for work; sometimes, I feel rushed. Having the extra time to myself would make all the difference.
The other habit I am working on is writing for me (not grad school), whether that is journaling, my affirmations, or writing for this blog. I want to write more. I loved writing when I was younger, but then undergrad sucked that out of me. This is the year I get it back. Maybe I’ll even edit the Last Dance play I wrote in high school.
Let go of what is no longer serving you.
This one is tough and something I am working on. Someone in my life is causing me so much stress, and I am working on unplugging her from me and me from her. But letting go of her could also mean letting go of something that means everything to me, and I can’t do that.
So, in letting go of this person, I am trying to work on being friendly but professional around her, not like “friends” as we used to be. I’m still sad we’re not friends anymore. I’ll probably be sad about this for a long time, but if continuing to do what I love means interacting with her, I’ll suck it up and do it. As my parents ingrained in me, “Suck it up, buttercup.”
I am letting go of this person by “releasing negative energy/calling energy back to me” yoga sessions/meditations.
Embrace and celebrate your introversion.
No matter what society tells you, there is nothing wrong with being an introvert. It is something about you that is so precious and deserves to be celebrated. Being one of the “quiet ones” taught me to be self-reliant. To do things for myself, by myself. Yes, there are definitely times I need to lean on people for support, but I have also learned to love myself first and celebrate who I am, no matter what anyone thinks.
If you need a good resource, a book I highly recommend is The Introvert Advantage by Marti Olsen Laney Psy.D.
I hope you enjoyed this post and that you learned a bit about introverts and my experiences as one. As always, don’t forget to like this post and follow me on all social media (links below). Sending you all the light and love in this world.
