Following your bliss is not self-indulgent, but vital; your whole physical system knows that this is the way to be alive in this world and the way to give to the world the very best that you have to offer. There IS a track just waiting for each of us and once on it, doors will open that were not open before and would not open for anyone else. - Joseph Campell

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

a quiet place to think

I just came across Susan Cain's book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Won't Stop Talking about a week ago.  Goodreads had the video of her TED Talk on the book page.  I watched it, and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  I am totally an introvert, which may actually surprise some of the people I know because I can be kind of obnoxious at times.  To me an introvert is a person who needs to be alone to recharge, where an extrovert needs other people to be charged.  It isn't that an introvert doesn't like people, or being around them.  Lord knows I need my together time too.  It is just that I need my alone time more.  It is essential for my mental health.

What I've really appreciated about what Susan has done is that she's shown a light on the fact that introverts tend to be made to feel as though there is something wrong with them.  Well us.  It is wrong to like to be alone, or need to be alone.  It is wrong to not have anything to say.  Extroverts rule the world, and they have shaped it to suit their needs.  It is something I know made me feel awkward in school, and hasn't completely gone away as an adult.

I haven't read Susan's book yet, but I am definitely going to get it.  It will have to wait until next month though. In the meantime, I stumbled upon this clip Maria Popova posted on Brain Pickings.  Oh what a beautiful marriage of words and art.  Stunning work by Molly Crabapple.



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