On Introversion

Over the years, my blog has consisted largely of months and months of silence followed by an update on where I’ve been (usually coinciding with some work change). Often, I’ve used how busy I’ve been as the excuse. That’s usually true.

This morning, there was a notification of a “tweet” on my phone claiming that today is my 6th “birthday” on Twitter. After eating some cake to celebrate, I realized that I hadn’t posted anything to Twitter (apart from a few replies - mostly on my actual birthday) since the end of May. Facebook - even longer. Photos (Instagram or Flickr) - longer still. Ironic for a guy who spent a while trying to make social networking better, but it happened.

Some people have heard me romanticize the “infosuicide” of _why. This wasn’t that.

The reality is, I’m just an introvert.

I don’t remember when or where this idea was first suggested to me (I kinda feel like it was Earl in IRC … with the candlestick), so I’ll resort to Wikipedia:

Some popular writers have characterized introverts as people whose energy tends to expand through reflection and dwindle during interaction.

Effectively, I took the summer off from “interaction”. It wasn’t something I planned to do explicitly. It happened organically. I kept my workload light (lighter than it’s been for 15+ years), stayed off social networks, did 0 public speaking and only interacted with a handful of people.

The result of this accidental experiment is that I feel more calm, relaxed and happy than I can remember. If you feel unhappy, overwhelmed or exhausted (and judging from Twitter, so many of you do) - try it. Unplug for a bit. Especially you, future me.