My Three Sions: Introversion, Extroversion, and Depression
Last night I went to bed with a headache … and still had it when I got up. While I am no longer hurting, I am not necessarily feeling “sharp”; hence, it remains to be seen whether I will be able to compose a coherent post. At least the corny title is worth the price of admission …
Contributing to the beauty of blogging is the ease with which you can ride along my thought train with me:
- drwende’s Happiness, Humiliation and Hue
- and Tops! What are they GOOD for?
- wikipedia: extraversion and introversion
Application points:
- Technically I’m an ambivert: equally extraverted and introverted. More realistically, I’m a shy extravert.
- Bloggers seem to skew to the intro-.
- Sad, but true: Washington is one of the five most introverted states, and Idaho’s not far behind.
- “Talk therapy” is one of the treatments for SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), but nobody wants to talk about it — they just want to sell you vitamins or special lighting.
- I actively desire for my wardrobe to convey both authority and approachability.
In terms of color, authority is associated with high contrast color schemes and approachability with brights. How do you balance the two in your wardrobe?
{{hugs}} So been there & done that! Hope your head is better soon.
I am a social extrovert and an emotional introvert. I don’t remember where I found that, but it made soooo much sense when I read it! I love social situations, but when I need to deal with something emotionally, I have to do it alone. Bizarre, but it’s me to a T.
To balance, for me, I wear various shades of red all the time and lots of funky jewelry. It works.
Oh and I’m buying myself a copy of “The Book” for my birthday. (Triumph of I S) Can’t wait to get it.
To me approachability is more about lower contrast lighter colours, rather than bright colours, which can appear too dramatic on some and thus keep the more introvterted away. Blues and Greens are way more approachable than bright red.
Myers Briggs wise I’m an Introvert, but I have learned how to be an extrovert at work or where necessary to get by in this world with some ease. I am not a true extrovert as they spend their life chatting up strangers in queues, which is something that I’ll never do.
To display both authority and approachabiity, don’t just consider colour, but also style - a crisper fabric says Authority (whilst a soft flowing fabric says approachable), a high contrast says authority (whilst a low contrast, lighter colour says approachable), why not mix two of these elements to express both at the same time?
Hope you feel better — how about a nice cup of hot chocolate? It works wonders for me, I also suffer from SAD and the winter season has just roared into Korea so I’m already counting the days ’til vacation and/or spring! Staring at past tropical vacation pics on a 24″ monitor helps too . . .
As a college instructor and US high school teacher I rely on posture/body language to convey authority and approachability — two things teachers need! Clothes do help create our image though — I mix and match texture all the time. Often a typical outfit in the winter will be a crisp pinstripe charcoal grey A-line skirt with a bright cotton-candy pink twinset, During the sweltering spring months I’ll pair a cool sleeveless blouse w/ a swirling, full skirt — or lots of linen — all in pinks, whites, greys. . . . it all comes together and everyone knows I mean business — !
I consider myself an extroverted introvert — I HATE the prep of getting ready for a big social event, stress over it, feel nervous, want to cancel/back out, but eventually go and have a great time , chat up a storm/become the quintessential social butterfly — but afterwards need to decompress and be alone and mull stuff over . . . . I like what Janel said about social/emotional — this sounds like a good description!
*sigh* there was huge windy cold front that just came in and knocked all the golden ginko leaves off the trees . . . all is bare and sere . . . . perhaps we can talk about our SAD and do self-therapy -!
Lots of {{{{{{ hugs }}}}}}}. Don’t forget you had a REALLY big, busy weekend.
I think, sometimes ’sad’ just means ’sorry, adventure’s done’ and we must, as Ellem said, decompress.
This is from someone who had SAD experiences for years - some seemed to be related to clouds and rain, and some to activities and excitement, and some to hormones. Watch it when the three come together!!!
We can certainly talk about SAD, but for the record - I don’t have it, although my husband does. When I notice a slight feeling of depression, I’m getting better about just going to bed; usually that cures it. For me, a more sinister type of depression results from circumstances conspiring to limit my opportunities for conversation; those cases can be very scary, because I quickly reach the point of not having the energy to do the work to remedy the situation.
I can definitely be guilty of chatting up strangers in queues!
Since I don’t really wear flowy fabrics, the advice to wear crispy fabrics works for me. Also, tailored styles help with authority. I love blue and green together, even though it’s not the bulk of my wardrobe; I also think pink and brown are approachable, friendly colors.
I have heard it said that Spokane is friendly, but don’t expect to be invited to anyone’s home. Wonder if that is related to people here tending to introversion? People’s main concern here seems to be avoiding burn-out, as opposed to relationship building.
That is sad that people don’t invite others over - when I was living in the UK it’s what I noticed there too - as an outsider and not having a lifetime of friends for support, people were nice, and might invite me down the pub at lunchtime, but wouldn’t ever invite you over to their place for dinner (you basically have to be family to get invited to people’s houses there it seems).
WHilst here in Australia we’re always inviting people over - my husband (who is english) when he first moved out when I suggested invite others over would say “but I don’t know them that well” he is now (after 7 years) becoming more open to the concept and actually invited our new (English) neighbours over last weekend - and I think they really appreciate it as they don’t have lots of friends here as they’ve only just moved to Australia.
Pink says warm and caring, brown is earthy and non-judgemental - so a great combination for you to say approachable. In a crisp fabric with some structure and you’re right on the money!
I put on a pink sweater Sunday (about the tone of your right stripe, but just a tad brighter) and it made me feel so good I wore the same sweater on Monday.
‘Love your new picture!! Did you paint it?
No, I didn’t paint it. It’s done using the “posterize” setting on a digital camera.
(There are actually two that rotate.) I’ve been trying for days to remember how to change the picture here — finally remembered that there are easy to follow written instructions! lol
When I want to be a milquetoast, I wear my assorted neutrals and soft colors.
Today I needed to feel UP so I wore a red tissue tee, and matching lipstick. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror while shopping for wrapping paper at Target and I looked pretty darn peppy. I don’t care if I look approachable or not most days. If I didn’t want anyone to come near me I’d invest in a lot of black Gaultier or strange Alexander McQueen pieces. People would be terrified of me here. If I want to draw people near me, I just make eye contact and smile at them.
I’m an extrovert who loves to talk to strangers if they are game. I love people. Sometimes though, I hide out for a month or so, like now.
Keep exercising during the winter months Rebecca to keep your mood up. Or get a drug to take daily. My sister’s in Portland and she needs a mother’s little helper daily to deal with the rain and darkness.
I found a beige shirt in the back of the closet! I figure it’s for friendliness emergencies.
Because I’m besotted with black — and it’s really the right color for me — I’m trying varying textures as a means of looking a tad less likely to bite strangers’ necks. Not that vampires aren’t “in”…
Love the new picture of you — you posterize very effectively.
Hey there! From experience, Spokane was one of the friendliest places we have ever lived but we notice that the trend (not the rule) was that unless we initiated people did tend to keep to themselves. Not always but often.
As far as SAD goes, when we moved even further north I expected it to be pretty bad because it has effected me in the past but I have not had too much trouble dealing with it this year. I do have a neighbor though who is always visiting or calling, so maybe just having someone to talk to and keep your mind occupied really does help.
On another note…..photos of our finished kitchen are up as well as photos of the new baby!
Just so long as karen and wende don’t get their red and black tangled together, we’re all safe from vampires! LOL
You’re right about exercising, karen. And we just couldn’t stand it in Portland anymore, my hero was in very bad shape, so we moved here. It’s really not bad, although I do get tired early (since it’s dark at 4 in the afternoon!).
MamaArcher - congratulations on that beautiful baby!