A facebook friend had this article on 23 Signs You're Secretly an Introvert and it's very timely as Girl1 and I are re-awaking an ongoing conversation we have about how many friends someone has (girl2 is an extrovert) and what that means about their life and personality.

I'm a classic introvert. It was an enlightening thing to me in college when someone explained to me the concept of how for some people being with other people TAKES energy and for some people being with other people GIVES them energy.

I had lots of feelings of inadequacy and loneliness for a large part of my life because I just couldn't make small talk and give the kind of attention to people necessary for having a large circle of friends without burning myself out. I always did better with just a few good friends and a large circle of acquaintances.

But I never reconciled that with my career path of being a teacher, or how comfortable i felt talking or performing in front of a large group of people as compared to some extroverts I know.

#8 from this article nails it on the head. I guess I'd always had an unformed idea that it was "easier" talking in front of people (a kind of artificial distance exists between audience and speaker that doesn't TAKE the energy necessary for more intimate interactions) than talking TO people. Having the article say it kind of solidifies that understanding for me.