The term has only just begun, and already, I am tired. So very tired. It’s the people, really (later, it will be both the people and the workload…all the papers…so many many papers to grade so carefully…). I’m a natural introvert, so every day I deal with people, from students to faculty and staff, I feel not just exhausted by the end of the day… I feel utterly DRAINED. Any job where one has to deal with MANY people on a daily basis is, essentially, vampiric to those of us who aren’t psychologically equipped to handle them.
And yet we introverts always seem to wind up in professions that have us overwhelmed with people.
Should an imaginary door open up somewhere, or even a tunnel, just for me, I hope it leads to one of two sanctuaries away from PEOPLE:
1. A twee cottage in the Scottish Highlands, preferably somewhere overlooking Loch Maree. The cottage has all of the incidentals one needs such as indoor plumbing, electricity, and a regularly, magically stocked fridge and larder. The bed is downy soft. The writing desk overlooks the lake. Chances are, there will not be wifi access or anything of the sort, and frankly, that’s awesome for me. I’d just use it for a weekend away when I needed to cool off from the hellish humidity of Florida and PEOPLE.
OR…
2. A secluded beach where the water is comfortably warm and clear, the sands are powdery soft underneath bare feet, and there is 24/7 beachside service. I don’t know where the beachside service would come from as there are no hotels in sight. In my imagination, the service only caters to me and — if absolutely necessary — a friend or family member. I have a beach lounger and umbrella, a Kindle or actual book, and anything I want from the service at all. Most importantly, there is only the sound of the waves crashing and a light sprinkle of raindrops every so often, if it’s imaginary rainy season, but nothing to mar the sun and blue.
And, most importantly, So Few PEOPLE.
Okay, I want this, so why can’t this exist…right now?
This, On Purpose 
It does 😉 I work with a lot of people too, some regular faces, sometimes new ones. I share the feeling. Everywhere you look – faces. I’ve read somewhere, I think it was a personality book of some sort, that the extroverts actually cannot function without the introverts . . . quite fascinating
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I’m inclined to agree that we need each other — introverts and extroverts. Introverts bring the Quiet, after all.
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And the extroverts needs to pipe down sometimes 🙂
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I was always an extrovert by day and an introvert by night when I was teaching. I really like your writing. It pulls me in.
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I like to pretend I’m an extrovert, but I’m not at all. When I teach, I’m putting on a performance. Thanks for the compliment, btw, Chloe! We miss you, you know!
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