Equal Rights for Introverts

“Equal rights for Introverts” should be a bumper sticker. Because as a rule, introverts don’t like bumping into people. And they really hate it when they have to dress up to do it.

I am not a party animal. I am a “stay in the den” animal. The older I get, the quieter I get. And I have the right to be quiet.

Growing up, people would say to me, as if it were an abomination, “You’re so quiet.” And you are not allowed to say, “And you’re so noisy.”

The world is custom-made for extroverts but I say introverts should not unite but dis-unite. We should proudly say no to things we have no interest in.

I used to feign interest in having conversations with people. I hate conversations. They are always about things I usually have no interest in.

Extroverts get excited. I almost never do. I get quietly enthusiastic, though. Extroverts should try that sometime.

No, this is not a rant against extroversion but a confession of how introverts treasure privacy, solitude and a barrier against noise and confusion.

We are the sensitives of the world. If it were not for my extreme introversion, I would not have the time to write endlessly or ponder the nature of life.

I don’t make friends easily because that might involve “doing.” And I love to just be at home in the atmosphere of my own congeniality. I don’t have to buy a ticket either.

All of you extroverts out there can skip right over this. There is nothing wrong with you. But the world is made for you and for introverts, heaven is leaving the world and sitting quietly alone somewhere. I don’t have to go anywhere. I am already there.

Vicki Woodyard