Health experts are telling us to practice social isolation, to avoid being around others to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The advice is especially difficult for social butterflies, the extroverts of the world. You know the ones: they’re the storytellers, the center-of-the-stage types who have a “the more the merrier” attitude when it comes to friends and acquaintances.
This week (and time) isn’t for those people. National Introverts Week is held the third full week of each March. That’s right now, and if the idea of social isolation during a pandemic doesn’t seem all that bad, then you’re probably an introvert and this is your week.
National Introverts Week “is dedicated to confronting the stigma associated with introversion and to celebrate the inherent strengths and qualities that make introverts such a dynamic and successful part of our world,” according to its description at nationaldaycalendar.com
Matthew Pollard, the author of The Introvert’s Edge and host of The Introvert’s Edge Podcast, founded National Introverts Week “to encourage introverts to be proud of who they are, and to draw attention to the fact that they too can be every bit as successful in business and in life as their extroverted counterparts – and in many cases, even more so.”
As this is being written, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that we should avoid groups of 50 or more people—too few for extroverts, too many for introverts
The website continues its pitch for introverts. “It’s a mistake to simply think of them as withdrawn, reserved, and hiding in the background. Achievement is not a matter of personality or sociability; it comes down to an introvert’s ability to discover and master the strategies to harness their inherent strengths.”
So take a break from all the alarming news surrounding us right now and give a nod to the introverts in your life. If you’re one, we salute you. Maybe you can give the rest of us advice on how to tolerate social distancing — if you’re comfortable with sharing, that is.
