A tale of two Mollys: I’m an introvert, for sure, but one who needs a little extroversion, as it turns out. When we’re traveling, I get this naturally. But when we’re home, it’s easy to swing way too far from one extreme to the other. Two weeks ago, I had run plans, lunches, coffee dates and family visits PLUS 2+ interviews for articles and the podcast EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Add to that, I had Shred Girls events I was attending and planning. It was a whirlwind of a week and while it was a blast on so many levels—so many great conversations!—it completely zapped me. So, by the next week, I was ready to go hardcore introvert and hide in our condo all week, coming out only for runs and walks with Peter to the grocery store.
Then, last Monday rolled around. It’s been both Canada Day + Independence Day in the same week, which for a freelance writer means very little other than 2 days when very few emails will come in. So I burrowed into writing and felt a little off as a combination of tapering for a long race-style run, which always makes me feel ‘meh’ on top of (hey, let’s be honest on here) having my period plus the heat soaring to 90 degrees inside and even hotter outside. Peter was coaching a camp and gone most of the day, and suddenly, I had tons of solo time in our condo.
At first, it was amazing. Day 1 and 2, I got a ton accomplished and was ticking off check-boxes like it was nobody’s business. I told Peter, ‘I like it when you’re out of the house for the day and I can crush through work while you’re gone.’ My inbox wasn’t getting much play and I didn’t have any calls booked because, holiday week for the rest of the world.
But Day 3, I hit a wall. I was reduced to heading to my ‘happy videos’ folder on Chrome just to perk up enough to get my writing for the day done by Wednesday. I was feeling like crap on Thursday when I had to head to a girl’s night in celebration of my good friend’s new adorable baby. I wasn’t really in the mood to see anyone… until I stepped into the house where my friends were all gathered around, and instantly felt a million times happier.
After just a couple hours of hanging out with other women, I was feeling so much more like myself again. Re-energized, almost like… almost like I was an extrovert or something.
OK, EXTROVERT might be pushing it.
But I think I had let my introverted tendencies get entirely too out of control—easy for those of us who work from home and who can pretty easily wall off and go weeks without seeing people. So, this is just my PSA for the introverts who work from home, or work jobs that let you hide in a cubicle or office all day without any meaningful social interaction. You still need time with friends, no matter how much you think you need solo time. It’s definitely a reminder that I needed, because it’s a trap that I fall into way too easily—and I realized that once I was in that mood, it was a lot harder to *want* to hang out with people even though it’s when I needed other people the most!
