Revisiting Introversion

Photo by the Author of this blog

A few months ago, I posted about introverts and extroverts, primarily busting myths about introverts being antisocial, people-haters (yes, I've been accused of that by the ignorant because I'm not a party animal). In case you missed that post, you can read it at:

God Made Me An Introvert

In one of the responses I left to a comment that post received, I noted that people can be introvert, extrovert, or anywhere in between the two extremes. I just read a fabulous blog post that talks about "ambiverts" - those who are actually a true blend of introvert and extrovert.  I just have to share it because the author, Kristen Lamb, did such a wonderful job of explaining about these "blended" folks as well as further illustrating the vast differences between true introverts and true extroverts and why the world needs both and everything in between.

The Myth About Introverts and Extroverts - Could You Be An Ambivert?

And if you have time, read through all the vast comments she received in response to her post.  People all along the spectrum responded, and the comments are great!

My Favorite NaNoWriMo "Game"

Photo courtesy of JessicaCooper1321 on morguefile.com

Word Prompts. I only this year discovered them, but man, are they ever fun! Many WriMos know exactly what I'm talking about. But for those of you who don't, let me explain.

Each day someone posts a "Word Prompt" in the NaNo forums - i.e. they post a word you're to use in writing that day. You write a scene, or a piece of a scene, using that word then share on the forums how many words you wrote and how long it took. You can also share what you wrote if you feel so inclined. Many of us do.

This generally starts at the beginning of October. Since NaNoWriMo doesn't officially start until November 1st, I decided to try the October WPs and use them to write parts of other unfinished projects. (I don't start working on my November project until November 1st.)

I wrote nearly 9,800 words in the month of October. And that's just writing 21 bits and pieces (okay, some of them are more like CHUNKS) of 8 different projects. 4 fantasy and 4 inspirational contemporary romance. The smallest bit was only 59 words long, written in 2 minutes. The biggest chunk was 1,002 words, written in 30 minutes. Progress is progress, so I couldn't be more happy.

Here's a sample of what I did in October. This was for the Oct. 14th Word Prompt. The word to use was "collapse". 463 words written in 18 minutes. This scene is from a fantasy project I have in the works called "The Curse of the Kalamar". The excerpt below is exactly how it's shared on the NaNo forum, unedited and a bit rough. I've since edited it.

         “Psst.”
        Alaina turned over and reached for Jarn, but the other side of the bed was vacant and cold. She pushed up onto her elbows and looked around. He stood at the foot of the bed with a secretive smile on his face barely revealed by the fire’s light.
        “Come on. I want to show you something,” he whispered. “But be quiet. We don’t want to wake the others.”
        She pulled her shift over her head then reached for her cloak.
        He stilled her hand. “You won’t need that. It’s warm outside.”
        “But I thought it was snowing.”
        “It’s passed. That’s what I want to show you.” He gave a light tug on her fingers. “Come on.”
        Alaina smiled and followed him on bare feet, her hand tucked in his. She glanced back at the others as Jarn opened the cabin door. They slept on undisturbed. She smiled then followed Jarn outside. She drew up short in surprise as he closed the door behind them.
        Not only had the snow stopped, it had melted away. Green grass stood almost knee high around the cabin. The leaves had already returned to the trees, green, rich, rustling faintly in a warm breeze that delicately touched her face. She closed her eyes and relished the feel of it.
        “Come on.”
        “There’s more?”
        “You’ll see.” He grinned boyishly. Something she’d never seen him do.
        A shiver of trepidation rippled to the surface. She hesitated as he stepped into the grass. He glanced back, freezing mid-stride.
        “What is it?”
        “I’m not sure.” She shook her head. “Maybe nothing.”
        “Well, come on then.” His grip tightened around her hand, but he didn’t pull. His smile remained warm.
        She nodded and stepped off the small porch. The grass felt warm and soft under her feet.
        He led her through the trees to a clearing before stepping to one side to unblock her view of the meadow. Her breath caught. Flowers of every color imaginable pointed their blooms toward the sun. The breeze created gentle waves like gentle ripples on a pond.
        “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
        He smiled, looked pleased with her response.
        Biting cold worked outward from her bones. The sun fell dark. Warmth faded. Colors disappeared, becoming various shades of gray. Alaina watched flowers give way to a floor of deep snow. Grass became snow drifts.
        “Jarn?”
        He had vanished like a puff of smoke. She turned in place, shivering. No trace. Only one set of footprints led through the snow to the point where she stood. Hers.
        “Jarn?” She cried out and started back the way they had come. She couldn’t feel her feet. In fact, she realized with alarm that she couldn’t feel any of her extremities.
        She stumbled over something buried under the snow and collapsed.

I ended up writing the scene that immediately follows this one for the next day's prompt - 15th, word "prostrate". It worked perfectly. Both scenes have been edited and added to the book's file. What could be better than a game that's actually constructive?!?!  ;-)

Then there's this excerpt from one of my inspirational contemporary romances, with a working title of "Marrying Mr. Wright". 518 words in 12 minutes, written in response to the Word Prompt for Oct. 3rd - word was "art". Again, this is unedited and in rough draft form:

Ben watched Amber’s blue gaze travel the room. He mentally stepped back and looked at it, trying to see it through her eyes. It looked downright shabby actually. Paint had faded and was even peeling off the wall and trim in places. The furnishings were scarred and worn. Wood surfaces needed stripping, sanding and re-staining. Upholstery was unsalvageable, and he wasn’t even sure the furniture itself was worth keeping. Dust coated every surface. Dirt streaked the floors from doorway to doorway, marring carpet older than him.

He winced. Why hadn’t he noticed how bad the place looked? He wasn’t sure he even wanted to take a look at the outside of the house come morning light. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d even paid attention to the condition of things out there.

“I’m sorry about the house,” he said after a long silence.

“Why?” She stepped further into the room, her gaze on the mantle with peeling paint. Then she turned to him with a warm smile. “You said it needed work. This place looks to have great bones. All it needs is some TLC, and it could be a really nice place.”

Really? He looked around then shook his head. He had no idea what she was talking about. “You’re serious.”

“Of course, I am.”

Carrie and Heather came through the front door then stopped dead in their tracks, their gazes widening as they took in the room. He waited for the horror to manifest. Instead, they both grinned.

“Oh, boy, project!” A gleeful smile accompanied Carrie’s declaration.

“This place sure has a lot of potential,” Heather said, her gaze reflecting the same eagerness as those of her friends.

What was with these women? Any normal woman would take one look and run so far, so fast, she’d be at the Lodge in Yellowstone before a car could drive her there.

“Ben, there’s something you should know.” Amber crossed the room to stand in front of him. She waved a hand toward her friends with a grin. “What you see before you is a three-woman remodeling crew. We love to take rooms and buildings with good bones and bring out the potential in them. That’s how we’ve kept a roof over our heads all the way through college. I can’t tell you how many places we’ve remodeled over the last four years.”

“The last one made ten,” Carrie supplied.

“Really?” Ben’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yep. I do the art-related stuff such as paint choices, tile colors, carpet and the like. Carrie is our carpenter and tile worker. Heather is gifted with furnishings and spatial planning. And all three of us make one unbelievable demolition squad.” Her grin turned mischievous.

He wasn’t sure that was something to brag about, but he’d have to trust them on it. He couldn’t exactly rescind the offer to remodel his house. He’d have to back out of the engagement to do that. And he most definitely couldn’t do that. He wasn’t sure what consequences God would allow for such an act of disobedience, but he’d just as soon not find out.

There's no time limit on Word Prompts. You can take as little or as much time as you want. You can write as little or as much as you want, as long as you use the prompt in question. I haven't written them in order either. I didn't finally decide to try the Word Prompt games until the 16th of October. I've kept a running list of them and just mark them off as I do them.

So, WriMos, have you checked out the NaNo games? If so, what's YOUR favorite NaNo game?  If not, what's holding you back from giving them a shot?

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BTW, as an unrelated aside, for those of you who liked my Introvert-related post, check out this video - The Value of Introverts and Extroverts.

God Made Me An Introvert

Photo courtesy of jkt_de.

Have you ever been made to feel defective because God made you an introvert in an extroverted world? I sure have. I've been told I need to "get out more", be more "sociable", stop being so quiet in a public setting. You say it, I've probably heard it.

And just for the record, being introverted doesn't have anything to do with being AFRAID of people or social situations. Yeah, I've heard that one, too. Fear/phobia is a whole different ball of wax from being an introvert. Fear is SO totally fixable. I'm not talking about that.

For a while, I actually listened to such ignorant advice, thought they were right about there being something wrong with me. In the process, I didn't honor the way God made ME. It cost me dearly in terms of health, though I really didn't understand why at the time. Recently, the answer to that "why" has come to light.

Science is showing that the brains of introverts and extroverts are actually hard-wired differently. There are differences in the way our brains handle acetylcholine and dopamine (two important neurotransmitters) as well as the workings of the blood supply. Don't fret or fear. I won't go into a full-blown science lesson about it, though I am tempted since science was my first love and probably will remain so for the rest of my life.

Introversion isn't about temperament, personality, or fear as some like to accuse. God actually made introverts PHYSICALLY different from extroverts. He made us unique. Imagine that!

Being an introvert affects every area of my life, including writing.

Normally, social settings with large numbers of people make me a nervous wreck. The longer I have to be in them, the worse my nervous system reacts. Needless to say, being a true introvert on top of having neurological issues, I don't like crowds. I end up jittery for hours. NOW I understand it's because of the dopamine overload crowds cause in the brain. (Something extroverts thrive on, but introverts suffer under.) Worst I ever had, I couldn't sleep for three days because my nervous system got so overcharged. Sounds like fun, right? Not! Because of the accompanying jitters, I couldn't even use the time constructively. Talk about annoying. If I can't sleep, I at least want to get something accomplished.

In small groups, and one-on-one, I'm perfectly fine. In fact, I thrive in those environments, particularly with people I actually have things in common with. I don't have many close friends, but the real friendships I establish run very deep. I'm definitely a quality over quantity type of mentality when it comes to relationships.

A couple of interesting sources of information are:

Top 10 Myths about Introverts

Extrovert v. Introvert

So I've learned to work with the way God designed me. Instead of going against the flow, I work WITH my body and the hard-wiring of my brain. I no longer try to force myself to fit a social mold made by others who simply don't "get it" that God doesn't intend for all of us to be social butterflies and people-people (couldn't help myself). Society most definitely needs its share of those, but I'm not one of them. And that's okay.

As an introvert, I spend a lot of time in my own head. I think a LOT. About myself, the world around me, my faith, "what if" scenarios, you name it. I'm also an absolute research nut (not something common to all introverts). I'm a deep thinker and couldn't stop myself from doing it even if my life depended on it. I also have a very active imagination. All of that translates into an avid love of reading and writing.

Interestingly, writing in some social settings can actually be good for me (I know other introverts who can't do what I do). I have learned to channel the energy it creates in my brain in a constructive way. Being creative and in my own head, so to speak, buffers the dopamine-producing effect of being in a crowd if I write. I can control the effect crowds have on me to some degree plus use it constructively. If I have the opportunity, that is. It's not feasible in every situation.

So, is there anything wrong with me being an introvert? Not on your life. And I no longer let people make me feel defective or broken because I'm not an extrovert like them. Society needs us introverts as much as it needs extroverts. The church does as well. We are merely different, neither better nor worse than the other.

God made me this way for a reason, and a purpose. I consider introversion to be one of the gifts, just like the talents and spiritual gifts God has given me, that make me a unique creation.

Are you an introvert? Do others make comments or ignorant judgments that make you feel damaged? Don't listen. Find peace in who you are in Christ, in the incredible creation God has made you to be. Let go of your fears, insecurities and brokenness, including the ones that come from people judging you for being born an introvert. And remember. They don't know any better.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2:10)

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, embrace the freedom He promises, including the freedom to appreciate your God-given talents and gifts, including those inborn ones like introversion/extroversion. Be who God has created and gifted you to be, serve the purpose He had in mind for your life before you were ever born. Don't let the ignorance of the world keep you in bondage.

Are YOU honoring God by being the person He created you to be?