Let’s get something straight: When it comes to introverts, the world has very distorted views of us.
For some reason, when people say they’re introverts, it connotes images of pale, shy, quiet and awkward people, holed up in their rooms, cringing at the thought of human interaction.
I’m here to bust those myths:
1. Introverts never want to go out.
They would rather stay inside, curled up with a good book or become good friends with Netflix. Nights out are a big no-no for introverts.
Reality:
If you text us and ask us to go out and we say no, don’t be discouraged. Keep asking and eventually, we will say yes. Introverts don’t like to be secluded in their rooms all of the time — and we do love to go out.
We just don’t like to do it every night. Once or twice a week is completely fine.
This is because introverts need time to “photosynthesize” energy. That basically means we gain energy by spending time alone, just like extroverts gain energy from spending time with people.
When we have energy, introverts love to go out and have a good time. In fact, we need to go out. We need to give the energy off. What would be the use of creating it if we didn’t use it? That would just be wasteful.
2. Introverts are shy and quiet people who don’t like to be noticed by other humans.
They freak out whenever they have to speak to people or when attention is brought to them.
Reality:
Not all introverts are shy. This myth probably got started because we don’t always take part in conversations. There are many reasons for this. One reason is because we know we don’t have to talk.
Our purpose for going out is to give off our energy to extroverts. If the extrovert needs to talk to gain energy, we will absolutely listen.
Another reason is because introverts don’t like small talk. It’s a total waste of time. We don’t want to hear about baseball or the weather; we want to dig deeper into your lives.
We want to discuss things that are important to us. We want you to challenge us, not bore us. If you bore us, what’s the point of us sharing our energy with you?
3. Introverts are always guarded.
They never show their true selves and they are always serious.
Reality:
There is some truth to this myth. At times, introverts can be guarded. When we’re in an uncomfortable situation, we won't jump right into the middle of it. First, we’ll scope it out.
We’ll let it simmer for a little bit and then, eventually, we’ll wade in slowly, testing the water each step of the way until we’re okay with the situation.
4. Introverts don’t have many friends because they haven’t broken out of their shells.
If they would just open up and give more people a chance, they’d have a large social circle.
Reality:
First off, introverts hate the phrase “break out of your shell.” We don’t need to break out of anything. Want to know why we don’t have many friends? Because we’re selective.
We don’t just form shallow friendships with people based on liking the same television show or the same music. No, that’s not the way we roll.
We don’t need a large social circle to be happy. To us, quality is better than quantity. Does that mean sometimes we only have one friend we talk to all day every day? Sure. Does that bother us? Not at all.
When we say we’re friends with someone, it’s because we know we can talk about shallow things in one minute and hold a deep philosophical discussion about life and the universe the next minute.
It takes a lot of time for us to make friends with people, so don’t be discouraged or feel rejected when we don’t break out of our shells for you. Eventually, we’ll let you into our shells. And, everyone knows an intact shell is a lot better than a broken one.
5. Introverts are boring.
They keep to themselves and don't have any social skills.
Reality:
Give us enough of a chance, and we’ll prove to you introverts are some of the best damn people in the world.
