Don’t get me wrong — on certain (very few those are) Friday or Saturday nights, I wouldn’t mind spending time with one or two close friends and enjoying a bottle of wine or even attending a concert. And I’m not always opposed to going to a party or bar — I just really need to be in the right mood.
Noisy gatherings just aren’t my jam, and I’m happier ordering takeout, reading a good book or watching a sitcom having coffee and drowning in my random thoughts. It took me a long time, but I’ve learned to not force myself to go out just because it’s more socially acceptable. And, like most introverts, I certainly don’t spend all my free time alone — I just choose my social activities carefully, because there are plenty of solitary hobbies I enjoy.
No, my life isn’t boring. When I arrive at work on Monday morning and don’t have a ton of exciting weekend stories to share, this question sometimes comes up. But if I thought my life was boring, I’d do something about it! My ideal weekend might not make for a super exciting story — hearing that on Friday I ate a nice meal and curled up with a book I’ve been dying to read, and Saturday I spent all day at work looking at Trevor Noah’s stand-ups may not strike the casual listener as exciting. But these are the activities that make me feel like a genuinely happy and fulfilled person — and that’s what really matters.
So, my fellow introverts, which I’m sure are in here somewhere, let the extroverts know we’re not isolating due to unhappiness; we’re just taking good care of ourselves by making sure we get the alone time we need.