REDISCOVERING AUTHENTICITY: ACCEPTING THE INTROVERT IN YOU
This is SO EXCITING. Remember back in August when I went to The Yellow Conference and couldn't stop talking about how great it was? Well, now I'm contributing to their blog every quarter! How cool. Here's my first post for this quarter's theme on being real...love it. Continue reading here!
Image by Sandra Pagaimo via Flickr
Introverts, Let’s Get Real…
We live in a culture where celebrity reigns, big personalities are praised, and all of society is urging us to do more, be more, go go go! We have a deep-seeded extrovert ideal in our world today, whether we realize it or not.
Susan Cain, in her book, Quiet, defines the “Extrovert Ideal” is “the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the spotlight,” preferring “action to contemplation, risk-taking to heed-taking, certainty to doubt.”
Yeah, that’s not me at all. Hardcore introvert over here!
Introverts like me can feel so much pressure to act like extroverts: be outgoing, be loud, be on all the time and perform…but that’s not our nature.
How can we, the ones who might rather hang back and observe, listen, be quiet, and spend time alone, live and thrive in a world that holds extroverts in such high regard? How can we be truly ourselves without feeling like we have to play charades or put on a façade just to keep up with everyone else?
Hint: it’s not by acting like somebody (or some type) that we aren’t, and it’s not by hiding who we are. It’s about being real with ourselves and those around us.
Continue reading here!