I don't know about you extroverts, but I'm loving this. I have my immediate family around me, my garden, my sunny desk, good dinners at home, unlimited e-books and movies, my husband's Spotify account, and Rachmaninov's piano concertos on CD. I have no bra or makeup on. I get 8 or 9 hours of sleep every night. I know, these are all things that most people enjoy (my husband loves not wearing a bra or makeup), but I think the majority of people also really miss social interactions with other people. Guess what? I don't!
Social situations tend to leave introverts feeling sapped rather than energized. Because I haven't had to interact much socially in the last two and a half months, I have felt so rested and at peace! And as a freelance editor, I really didn't have much face-to-face interaction to begin with. I've realized that just going to piano lessons and church was exhausting. Now we FaceTime lessons, and I don't even have to be in the screen view, it's all on the kids, heh heh. I still shop for food once a week, but the mask precludes any real interaction. It's heaven.
As for church, yes, I know part of the reason for going is to learn to love others and be able to serve each other. But I've really enjoyed our family church services. We can tailor our lessons to what the kids need to hear and help fill in the gaps in their learning. They've been able to see how deeply we believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. In my talk yesterday, I shared a couple quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. and talked briefly about the riots all over the country.
The picture at left is my art/computer desk at the time I was preparing the talk. My view--the yard in springtime, with the chicken pen and trampoline in the background--is perfect. The desk is a mess, but it's big enough to contain my interests and do my editing work.
Last week I phoned my dad, who is an even bigger introvert than me, and he is as happy as a pig in poop right now. He has been knocking around a 3,000 sq. ft. house all alone since my mom moved in with my sister for health reasons. I invited him over for dinner, and he answered briskly, "No thank you! I'm happy with my bland diet and my weird schedule." I could hear the cheer in his voice.
So while loneliness is a huge problem for many during the coronavirus quarantine, don't worry about all of us. We introverts are just fine.
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