Extroversion vs Introversion

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Note: This was first written in April of 2020.

I've talked about this before, but it's become particularly relevant recently. To many people, I read as an extrovert. I know a lot of people. I'm very comfortable and at home in many social situations. I love hosting parties and connecting people to each other. I certainly get energy from big parties.

But the truth is that I'm actually pretty balanced between introvert and extrovert. I love my big parties, but in some ways I actually need the alone time more than I need the social time. It's just that usually I get plenty of it by default: working, biking, lifting weights. I need that time to recover, but no one sees that because it's when I'm alone.

I've always said this, but, in recent years, I had started to wonder a little if my conception around this didn't really match where I currently was. I've drifted more extroverted over the years: some intentionally, some incidentally. Most people seem to get more introverted as they age. If that's ever going to happen to me, it hasn't yet.

But the interesting thing about the current shelter-in-place situation is that it's really verified my self-assessment. I miss parties and clubs. I want to host a thing and see people. I miss individuals a lot. But the truth is, I've been struggling more with not getting enough alone time than I have with not seeing people. The extrovert battery is something I can kind of set aside and come back to. It's not really a need in the same way.

It would definitely feel different if I were isolating alone, but fundamentally, while my extroversion is real, it's also something I can set aside a lot of the time. Both halves are real, and I miss my people, but I am not an obligate extrovert. 

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