Step into a classroom, a workplace, or a social gathering, and you’ll often see a pattern: those who speak the loudest, the fastest, and the most confidently tend to attract the most attention. Success is frequently tied to visibility. Job descriptions ask for ‘confident and outgoing’ individuals with ‘strong communication skills’. Schools praise students who…
I’m a quiet person. Usually. I get quieter in groups. More so when people are new to me. And because of this, I’ve been misunderstood a lot in my life. I’ve been assumed to be rude, disinterested, stuck up, bitchy, and to dislike people, amongst other things. But that’s not me at all. I’ve always…
So many of us feel socially anxious in life, fearing judgement of others and avoiding situations we feel afraid in. In fact, more than 1 in 10 of us experience social anxiety; it’s the third most common mental health challenge. Or it may not be that we’re so avoidant, but instead we feel so anxious…
Living in a culture that can feel like it values extroversion over introversion, there are times when many of us wish we could swap our quiet nature for that of someone more outgoing. Those of us who let that longing go have found ways to focus on all the positives that come with introversion and…