fruitfulness

this girl doesn't learn best at home alone

this girl doesn't make art in a bar

"I will tell you what I have learned myself. For me, a long five or six mile walk helps. And one must go alone and every day."  - Brenda Ueland

Introversion has garnered increased press in recent years.  (Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking - 2012, The Happy Introvert – 2009).  Considering introversion/extroversion, I usually consider what setting re-charges someone.  While an extrovert may be invigorated by meeting many new people in a short period of time, an introvert might feel most alive during times of solitude.

One aspect of introversion and extroversion that is sometimes overlooked is our response to a multi-sensory world.  My roommate is a teacher—a job that includes working with a classroom of teens, multi-tasking, doing on-the-spot thinking.  This is in contrast to my work, which is 1-on-1 work I can plan ahead for and complete slowly with older adults.  To me, the thought of walking through a high school cafeteria and the accompanying noise, rush and lighting, is enough to make me want to take a nap.  Whereas I could imagine that for someone else, the thought of focusing on one art project for a long period of time could induce yawns.   

How about you?  Do you enjoy crunchy or chewy food?  Chew gum?  Tap your fingers or feet during a meeting?  Enjoy areas of loud music and talking?  Prefer roller coasters?  Do other people help to focus your attention?  Do you prefer not to re-watch a movie you have watched before?  Do you get restless if you stay home for too long?  Do you find music moving?  Are you irritated by people who seem to say things just to shock?   Do you notice smells more than other people? 

Certain sensory strategies are normalized in our culture, which we use to achieve appropriate levels of alertness.  A coffee or cigarette break.  Running.  Cooking.  Dancing to music in a bar.  Listening to music on our commute.  We seek to experience or avoid particular sensory experiences to regulate ourselves within our environments.  Research has identified some correlation between the extrovert and the sensory seeking personality, and the introvert and the sensory avoiding. 

Certainly, no human could or should be strictly defined by the markers of introvert or extrovert.  To quote Albus Dumbledore, “It is our choices…that show what we truly are.”  Upon reflection (that’s what we intro’s do, after all), I find that my roommate and I engage in activities contrary to our usual nature in favor of things we deem worthwhile.  She is a teacher of English – which involves the world of reading and reflection more natural for us introverts.  She engages in periods of quiet reflection and prayer.  As someone who seeks times of solitude, I also enjoy meeting new people, having new experiences, and hosting gatherings.

However, I do think our sensory preferences guide and reinforce our introvert/extrovert tendencies.  The question of the primacy of the chicken vs. the egg seems relevant:  Is the pianist initially attracted by playing piano music or by spending a prolonged period of time alone?  I like art museums, but surely one appeal is that they are generally spacious, quiet places with natural lighting (the antithesis, shall we say, of bars—which I have never favored).

Working with older adults with dementia, I am reminded of the importance of sensory inputs including music and tone of voice.  These inputs are also highlighted in the sensory environments of childhood: the colors of a room, feelings of stuffed animals, sound of a parent's voice.  In early or late years of life, these things come into focus.  But in between, I think they can give us insight, too.

Do you identify as an introvert, extrovert, or somewhere in between?  At various times in your life, have you have tended towards different ends of the spectrum?  Or even, at different times of the day or week?  What sensory strategies do you use during your workday?  During leisure time?  Do you encounter any challenges in relationships with people of differing socialization preferences?  If so, how do you respond to these challenges? Are there ways that you show respect to others and to yourself?  

probably quiet music playing, right?

"There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness.  Success comes from strength, control, and respectability.  Fruitfulness, however, comes from weakness and vulnerability." - Henri Nouwen (illustration above)

"The heart is never 'successful.'  It does not want power, honors, privilege, or efficiency; it seeks a personal relationship with another, a communion of hearts, which is the to-and-fro of love.  This opening of the heart implies vulnerability and the offering of our needs and weaknesses.  The heart gives and receives but above all, it gives." - Jean Vanier