Eater of Brains

    I can’t tell if this image that I’ve been seeing all over the internet is meant to be so patronizing, but I still dig it. I’ve got two gripes. First, it seems a little tongue and cheek to encapsulate these instructions in a check list. Second, the word “care” suggests that introversion requires exceptional considerations and that’s really not the case. Putting those on the shelf, I think this text makes a nice point and does so respectfully. I’m all about increasing awareness for things that affect me.

    I don’t have answers about how useful it is to label people “introvert” or “extrovert.” Let’s face it though, we live in a society that needs to put labels on things and categorize us; that’s not always a bad thing, it helps us find out who we are and it lets us weigh our differences and similarities in relation to “self” and “other.” I’m sure that  everyone factors in the introvert/extrovert scale somewhere if we draw a big line and fill it with tick marks.

    I know that I have referred to myself as an introvert in the past, and I’d be lying if I said I spent most of my time outside my own mind. I’m quiet; not shy, just quiet. And yet my job requires a large amount of public speaking each day. I like staying home, but I go out when I have time to go out, and I look forward to it.

    Personally, I have skin too thick to be emotionally affected by any of the violations of this checklist for more than a couple of minutes. (Then again I am not a mere man; I am steel covered with rawhide.) But I know people who would really feel happier and more comfortable in their own skin if more abrasive and “social” people just took a moment to consider the other (introverted?) person’s feelings before leaping into the foray.