Introversion

Sun is spilling in my hotel room window, and I have barely to incline my head upwards to gaze at a beckoning blue sky. I have been at a Convention in Vegas all weekend long, and while I have loved many of the speakers
[hello Dr.Oz! Chris Powell! Darren Hardy!] I have also been very intrigued by my reception of the whole experience. I will definitely be sharing my copious notes, but not in this post. This morning as I have been musing over why some people jump up at every opportunity to give standing ovations, why others nod and agree with everything that is said, and why attention to detail exercises are lost on me because I spot the moon walking bear and photoshopped heads before they're pointed out. You see, I have a not very carefully guarded secret that my family knows very well. I am an introvert. I prefer to sit quiety, ingest information and catergorize it myself, take notes to soak in knowledge [and also to recognize BS when I hear it,] and shy away from noise pollution. Yet, I have been pushed all my life by my teachers, parents, and friends to step outside my comfort zone and walk where the extroverts walk. Now, after all my musing this morning I headed over to TED.com, and low and behold on the front page there is a fabulous presentation on the power of introverts! Susan Cain explains better than I why I have been having a unique experience among the 3500 people surrounding me in the convention. It's not that I am the only introvert either [when you watch her clip, which I hope you do, you'll hear her state the statistic that one out of every two or three people is introverted] but I have embraced my introversion in the past few years, and don't feel a need to pretend I'm something else, as I did when I was younger.

Here is the link to Susan's insightful presentation: http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html


In closing, Susan summarizes with "3 Calls of Action" which are:

1. stop the group projects! Have a place where casual group thought can organically occur, but do not force group collaboration at every turn.

2. go to the widlerness - be like Buddha and have your own solitary revelations.

3. take a look at what's inside your own suitcase and see what's there - books, champange glasses, scuba gear - and share what you have with others

As an introvert, Susan's words are like a breath of fresh air, and so I must echo her closing remark in closing this post,

"Have the courage to speak softly."