Well, it looks like early winter has set in here on the Canadian prairies. I woke up to -13 Celsius and the long term forecast tells me that there will be no overnight lows above freezing for the foreseeable future. As a writer, this is perhaps the best and most productive time of year. The urge to be doing something outdoors rather than sitting at a desk [or other writing location] seems to abate with colder outdoor temperatures. At least indoors, I don’t have to wear clothing. Warmer temperatures make it too tempting to stay inside.
I still go for long walks with my wife, despite the weather. Our daily average for the past few weeks has inched up to about ten kilometres with a mixture of 8, 10, and 12 km routes to be walked. Today, with sub-freezing temperatures, we walked a short five and a half kilometres, mainly because of the wind which adds to the discomfort. But of course, we dressed appropriately. Warm sweat pants topped with a thin wind pant on the bottom, and tee shirt, long-sleeved shirt, sweater, and a very light jacket with hood for the top. A pair of mittens and a tuque finished off our wardrobe for hiking. The motto nude when possible, and clothed when practical definitely plays a role in my life.
In this time of COVID 19, I don’t find it as much of a hardship to keep my physical distance from people as others who are more social beings, extroverts. I am an introvert. On a scale from 0 to 100, I am around 90% introverted. That is at my resting state when all things are equal in my life. However, I shift closer to the centre of the spectrum when life’s situations demand such as when socialising with people I know, or teaching, or working with a client. That is the key to understanding the relationship between introversion and extroversion. It is “work” for an introvert to act and be in the world in a more extroverted manner. One isn’t locked into a particular number on the line.
Introvert 100% ………. 0% or X ………. 100% Extrovert
Introversion and extroversion are described in psychological terms as attitude types. The psychologist who introduced the psychological description of personality types that is widely accepted and know in modern times, was Carl Gustav Jung. He looked at how humans seem to fall between to poles. The first pole, introversion, was characterised by an interest in the inner world where ideas trump things. The opposite pole, extroversion is drawn to things and finds more value in the outer world of things than the inner world of ideas.
It probably isn’t an accident that most people who are drawn to the arts, to music, to poetry, to authoring stories, and such are for the most part introverted. That isn’t to say that extroverts don’t write good poetry or novels, or paint, or dance, or create music. However, the products of their efforts do reflect their “dominant” attitude. For example, in the world of art, the more abstract, either in brush strokes or content, the chances are that the painter is predominantly introverted. The works of art that are almost precise replications of a subject, be it nature, a person, or a human construct, the more that the artist is more extroverted.
What is your experience? Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Do you thrive best with quiet and relationships with fewer people, or with engagement and activity with others and the outer world?