Friday, May 17, 2019

Do You Have a Healthy Personality?

There was a cartoon going the rounds on FB showing a women talking on the phone responding to cancellation of some social or volunteer event. She was sad, on the phone, that it had to be canceled and the minute she hung up she was doing the happy dance and joyful that she had no plans for that weekend. I can relate.

This prior week we have had an endless parade of workers ( washing the deck and house, painting the front of the house, cutting back tree branches in the woods that are moving into the yard, working with our garden helper that I wrote about previously who is piecing his life together and who now may have a full-time job and move on...).

I am the person, as I have written many times before, that might not leave the house for days or even weeks unless I ran out of food. Thankfully I am married to a social butterfly who goes crazy if he has not got every other day scheduled for some event or project or meet-up.  Thus, I get thrown into some of his adventures whether I like it or not. It is good for me, I know, and I must fight my nature to be a hermit.

I also have been blessed with family activities that are wonderfully draining.  This past weekend, the Sunday was spent with my daughter and her family celebrating Mother's Day with hanging out and then dinner out. 


Midweek was our gardener meeting preceded by a lecture on how to propagate native seeds and followed by scheduling with others on upcoming activities and booths.   Hubby has managed to schedule two activities on the same Saturday, so guess who has to fill in for him?

At the end of this week I am assisting with two high school classes on a presentation on the "Living Reef Action Campaign" which means more oyster talks and me working a computer and helping hubby think on his feet.

This coming weekend is another full two days with my beautiful children and grandchildren at Longwood Gardens and a tour of a mushroom farm, and a picnic with some cooperating weather, and whatever else outside Philadelphia as a belated celebration of my birthday!  (All I asked for was a spring picnic,  but they went a bit overboard.)

Only one oyster class next week, and I am hoping to avoid it.  


I retreat and revive with my photographs and photo-painting, taking an online class or two, and reading three four books at one time:  " The  Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish which is  thus far intriguing; Cowboys are My Weakness by Pam Houston which is raw and ready and which I purchased because I found her non-fiction Deep Creek Finding Hope in the High Country so beautifully sad and compelling allowing me to virtually visit my beloved Colorado; and now just starting to read Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.  In the last case, I am reading the actual book which is beautifully put together and formatted.  I guess it is a 30-year-old classic, but glad I finally found it.

Actually, in my schizophrenic way, I  also am also at times listening to "Innocents Abroad" by Samuel Clemens (Twain) through LibrVox (free public domain audio books) and finding that he was never held back by needing to be politically correct.  

Maybe I am NOT an introvert...maybe I just have a very short attention span with a motor that is always idling and that is why I need to retreat from others!

20 comments:

  1. I am an introvert who raised two introverts -- Mother's Day is a quiet and private celebration involving no public places. I did go to the meditation group, which is a private experience even when done in a group

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  2. You sure don't sound like any introvert I ever met. You sound incredibly busy and plugged in to so much! I read more than one book at a time, too. :-)

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  3. I think a lot of us are ADD these days. I've read Cowboys but never heard of her nonfiction but will look for it. I like memoir type books. As for being an introvert, I think many people are a mix. You could be an introvert though if you are drained by those activities that you find yourself doing. If they energize you, you are more extrovert than you know. It really is about what energizes us.

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    1. I am drained and it takes me days to come back to my normal self.

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  4. I used to think I was an introvert or rather shy, but then I married a man who could and would talk to anyone even complete strangers, I used to tell people he could make friends with a post, and I learned how to talk to people from him. Nowadays, I can hold my own when I want to. now I realize I wasn't an introvert so much as anti-social (part nature and part learned behavior). I like socializing...to a point. I like being alone even more. I may work on one project at a time but I only read one book at a time.

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    1. I have always been more social than not. I held offices in school and was selected for things, but I now realize that it was more a facade of being the "popular girl" and less the real me.

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  5. Anonymous1:16 PM

    Your life is so full, you need to be retired to enjoy all of that! And all the workers at your house, you are giving that many people work in the area. Oh I love Longwood gardens. Just the scent of strolling there is wonderful. Nearby Delaware has Hagley Museum, Winterthur, Nemours Estate...so much to do. Andrea

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  6. You are as bad as me. LOL You do make me laugh. I try to focus on one book or object at a time. I'm still pretty slow and can't see worth peas. Everything is pretty out of focus until Thursday. Then I try on new lenses and hand over my favorite new glasses. Are you ready for the wall of rain that's heading your way?

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    1. Rain...nothing this weekend thank goodness. Maybe early next week? I will have to check.

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  7. I am an introvert who also has a busy brain but can go without human company for long periods of time. But I do not read four or five books at a time! Wow.

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  8. Not sure what a healthy personality is. Term is interesting to think about.

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  9. It's okay to be introverted and need down time.

    Sam Clemens and those of his generation wouldn't have known that political correctness existed, and if someone had introduced them, they would have had a rip-roaring time making fun of it. Just the way it was back then, as you know. He is still fun to read.

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  10. Or maybe you just like your own company, maybe the hustle and bustle of small-talk laden gatherings is just not your cup of tea. It seems to me that you’ve been a busy bee anyway, so maybe you owe yourself a day off.

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  11. As to what makes a healthy personality, I wouldn't know. But I guess I'd considered myself an introvert... not that I'm anti-social, but do like my alone time, prefer to stay home than go out - even though when I do go out, I usually enjoy myself and am glad I went. I prefer small groups to large parties and seem to like activities that can be done alone (sketching, reading, writing, pottery). And from the activities you mentioned, you don't seem at all introverted! But I do read more than one book at the same time... usually have 2 or 3 going.

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  12. I never realized how much of an introvert I was and am, until I took some INTJ internet test. I had taken different kinds of personality tests before but that one was quite revealing. I am almost off the chart introvert.

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  13. I am also an introvert. I took that same test Anvilcloud did. I'd stay at home too if my husband didn't insist of traveling so much. However, I do enjoy meeting people and socializing. It sounds like you're having a wonderful time. It's so terrific that you were able to be with your loving family.

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  14. Like Ellen it's taken many a year for me to accept I'm really not an introvert- more someone who likes their own company- not in an anti social way, more In a I just like to be alone way. Even though they are 'lovely' it's Family and Friends' in short doses- There's a big sigh of relief when gatherings/ocassionaly finish and I can tootle on home to enjoy the peace and quiet.
    You have lots in your life to look foward to - enjoy the good times, put off or even delete the tiring stressful ones.
    Take care
    Cathy

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    1. And that should be ocassions finish!

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  15. The big thing for people to understand is an introvert is not necessarily shy. Nor is an extrovert necessarily gifted with being around people. It's where we get our energy. If it's from groups, that is an extrovert. I also think people can be a mix of things and not all intro or extro.

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.