Solitude matters, & for some people it's the air they breathe... Susan Cain
So let's get something straight right @ the beginning: I love my friends. I really, really do. I choose them carefully. I enjoy my time with them. I will actually exert myself to spend time with them but...at the end of the day I'm an introvert. I need serious amounts of time alone. The best thing that happened to me in a long time was the MOTH going to bible school. Hours & hours to be alone in each day, you know, just my cats & me.
After the first month or so [yes, it took that long] I began to notice the silence. It had been hours since I had spoken to anyone. I began to look forward to the MOTH arriving home...
Our church has got used to me ~ most of them being extroverted extroverts. They know if I'm needed I'm always available but don't ask me to be sociable just because... which means, as a rule, I have plenty of time to do what I do best: research. I'm really, really good @ research. I happily wade through the plethora of available teaching on the net & jealously hoard the best of the best to mete out @ bible studies or incorporate into my preaching & the church benefits. However sometimes one just has to be sociable. Not because it is expected; most introverts can wriggle out of expectations, but because it is right.
So I exerted myself to celebrate Sister C's birthday on Tuesday. Three people @ a time is a lot for me to deal with. I know. I know. The majority is against me. We went to our local Caf, Aunty Alice's, who do really great caf meals & it was wonderful. Congenial company sitting in the mid~day sun gently toasting despite the winter chill with views over Quandamooka: Our dearest Rabqa down from Townsville on a surprise visit; the friend she is staying with & Sister C ~ & can we talk! We put the world to rights. We should run the place! :)
It is a very loving little group & I enjoyed myself very much.
Wednesday's bible group expanded with the visitors ~ & seriously: I knew about it; I planned for it; I was prepared for it & it went with a bang! Our regulars know it can be pretty intense what with praise & worship & @ least an hour's prayer ~ though that can become rather extended @ times ~ & I usually have an hours worth of teaching followed by discussion. There wasn't much left from morning tea & the teaching generated lively discussion. And it is all good. Lovely bunch of ladies.
But now I am sooo tired it is not funny. Introverts give. They may not do it a lot but when they do they give everything ~ which is why we need plenty of recovery time. Now...
“Please kindly go away, I’m introverting.” ~ Beth Buelow
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