I read a - frankly - disturbing article a day or so ago about a woman's attempts at changing from introvert to extrovert for a week and how she fared. I will post the link to the article at the end of my blog so I don't lose you right now, but it shocked me at how socialising and being the face of 'out there' is so normal, so expected now. It's as though being a social being is touted as the only way to be happy. 'Experts' drag out all sorts of stats on why socialising is so good for mental health, but the power of silence and self-imposed solitude is rarely given the same treatment.
So to be happy, fully happy, we all need to have full social calendars? OK, yes - but as always there's a back story, another way of looking at things and room for all types in this world. I take issue with the fact that silence is a by-word for so many negative things. It reads as negative, in that it makes people think of isolation, loneliness, the whole gamut of 'poor-you-you-have-no-friends-and-no-one-likes-you' spectrum.
But I find silence absolutely necessary in my life. I crave it. Within silence there are a million stories to hear, to unroll, and to put down on paper. Within silence there is yourself, raw and unfettered. In silence you come face-to-face with your own mental health, old prejudices, old stories that no longer serve you, the horror of who you feel you are, the beauty of who actually are, and the deep well of your own ability.
In silence you'll find your self as your own best friend, and yourself as your own vicious enemy, and you have the power within that silence to change the furniture of your mind to make things OK.
Silence is nothing to be scared of. It's a beautiful sound if you just let yourself become immersed in it, allow yourself to feel the sensation of it, even for five minutes.
The reporter in the introvert versus extrovert article was/is fine the way she is, a lover of quiet, sedate pass times, so why this need to prove that society is right and that a life filled with endless noise and people is the way forward? I wish her all the best but introverts need to apologise to no one, not even the silence in which we love to live. Click through to the article here and leave me your thoughts.