(In/Ex)trovert

It's the long-lived question. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Everybody craves the answer, but will we really ever find it? The search for truth is in such high demand, even TIME featured a quiz.

To me, this begs the real question: who cares?


The sentiment, no one knows you better than yourself, should be applicable here. At the end of the day, we know we're comfortable in some situations, and uncomfortable in others. Does it really need to be analyzed?

Perhaps.

Through the investigation of our personality and social behaviors, there's a chance that we may be able to create a comfortable environment all the time. Work with what you're given, right? But then we're also quirky. We may exhibit characteristics associated to both extremes.

For example: When I'm surrounded by peers who are unfamiliar or acquaintances, I become reserved and sometimes timid. In this setting, I appear to be introverted. But once the previous acquaintances become friends, I am the bubbly life of the party.  On the flip side, in a setting where I'm surrounded by adults, even those that are new to me, I am quite at ease and sociable.

Looking at what I know, I'm generally extroverted with a sense of humor, a little poise, and a never ending list of topics for discussion. Interspersed for variety, I will sometimes be quite shy. I like being around people, but often, nothing sounds better than staying home to read and drink tea. Perhaps there needs to be some sort of compensation?

Ultimately, if I was forced to declare a personality, it would be a mix. I'm dominantly extroverted with introverted like tendencies. Will we ever know, or rather, need to know? Probably not. But for discussion's sake, it can be interesting. After all, how would dating sites, horoscopes, room mate matches work with out this concept?

What are your thoughts? Are you introverted or extroverted? A mix? Or don't you really care?

Eye Contact

I had a professor my first semester of college who was very intent, very present in office hours. His eye contact never wavered. I felt as if he never looked away. So then I was always pulling out the darty-eye self consciously. It kind of creeped me out. It was almost too personal. I had never encountered someone who could keep eye contact going for so long, so effortlessly! Eye contact is one of those things that can get really uncomfortable, really quickly.

So I'm wondering, is it just Americans who don't like eye contact? Everywhere you go, we wear sunglasses. Even if it's not that sunny! Don't forget, we love our personal space, all of us living in our personal bubbles. Let's face it, you'd probably be pretty weirded out if you were talking with an acquaintance and their face was less than a foot away from yours. Proxemics is so interesting and plays a huge role in the way our relationships work.

However, I'm curious to know if eye contact is something that transcends the rule of proxemics. Even if you're all the way across the room from someone and eye contact is achieved, there's suddenly an intensely personal, intimate moment. We all know the feeling. It can be unnerving! I swear that's why staring contests are so difficult!

How do you feel about eye contact? Are you really good at keeping it? Is there a trick?

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