#introversion

For introverts, the best associations start with ideas. If you don’t feel a part of your neighborhood association or the happy hour regulars after work, don’t force it. The community that surrounds you may not be your community. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

...it is impossible to fully and fairly understand introversion without looking inside. We aren’t just going away, we’re going toward something. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

I heard, for the first time— nothing. I danced and did somersaults, lay down in a bed of grass, felt the breeze. And for the first time, I heard my heart, and I knew who I was. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

Spend your free time the way you like, not the way you think you're supposed to. Stay home on New Year's Eve if that's what makes you happy. Skip the committee meeting. Cross the street to avoid making aimless chitchat with random acquaintances. Read. Cook. Run. Write a story. Make a deal with yourself that you'll attend a set number of social events in exchange for not feeling guilty when you beg off. ↗

— Susan Cain

#extrovert #introversion #introvert #home

One of the teens I worked with told me about how she loves to take tests, because it is quiet and everyone is occupying their own space. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

The only problem with seeing people you know is that they know you. ↗

— Brent Runyon

#introvert #introverts #journalism

Though I may be efficient at the family table, I linger at the table for two. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#family

For an introvert, interacting in a group setting does mean missing out. Where there is too much input, the introvert misses his mind, his subjectivity, his freedom, his very potential. The high-stimulus social environment, the “where it’s at on a Friday night,” this apparent “more,” becomes a prison to the introvert. He can’t wait to be free—to get out and away from the noise, the talk, the interference with his inner process. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#freedom

Let's clear one thing up: Introverts do not hate small talk because we dislike people. We hate small talk because we hate the barrier it creates between people. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

Whatever kind of introvert you are, some people will find you “too much” in some ways and “not enough” in others. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life