To love me is to love quiet, time spent deep inside of thoughts. I often retreat into myself, thinking, thinking, thinking. As a kid, some days I would disappear, still present but without words. I do the same thing now. When summer comes, I climb inside my laptop and write. My husband is patient for me to come up for air, to talk, to notice, to be. He understands this is part of me.
I made a rule for summer. Night is free from writing, free from technology, save a few minutes here or there if something important arises. Otherwise, I’d be gone for days and nights, but still here, in my chair, trapped in thought.
I’m getting better at balancing introvert with extrovert, but quiet is my natural habitat and summer is my friend.
Is it the same for all writers? Or, are some of you the other way around, more outside than in?
oliviaobryon 
I think it’s different for everyone. I need my moments of solitude, but I’m definitely a social animal. My husband has learned to recognize the signs of when I need alone time…. I’ve come to think of those moments as my regeneration periods.
I find it fascinating how everyone is so different– it sounds like we’re reversed. I also need my social time, but I’m more inward looking than out. š
I’m becoming more and more … and more … internal. There are a number of reasons for it, but, yes, I retreat. Frequently, these days.
It’s interesting that you find yourself becoming more internal. I definitely go through phases, especially when I write, but sometimes I can’t imagine being anymore inside my head. š
The pull back is largely a response to external events these days.
I am social, but I love reflective quiet times too
Makes sense, I think most people really are a balance of both– I am most of the time, but summer gives me the space to be a lot more reflective.
What a great rule: no technology in the evening. I am sure you have read some of the studies that cite you sleep better if you shut down screen time at least an hour before bed. I think I am on the solitude/internal side. I cannot function if I don’t have time to process and reflect on the day and analyze.
We definitely share that in common– I need a little quiet every day. And, yes, I think stepping back from technology in the evenings makes a big difference for unwinding. TV is not draining as the computer for me, but even so we don’t have one in our bedroom because I’ve read that falling asleep to TV definitely affects sleep, (and I believe in my case, that’s true!).
I have spent decades coming to terms with the fact that I am introverted and IT’S OK!!!I have loved meeting you in your blog, come across and see if anything I have to say makes any sort of sense to you!!
Nice to meet you too– just stopped by your blog and was grateful for the thoughts you stirred. And, if you haven’t already, you should google the book Quiet, it’s all about introverts and while I couldn’t actually get through the whole thing, there are some good related TED talks out there and I still walked away feeling much more comfortable in my introverted skin from what I read š
I love this. It’s almost as if I wrote parts of it. I especially like, “Iām getting better at balancing introvert with extrovert, but quiet is my natural habitat.” Mmmhmm…. š
I knew I recognized some similarities between us š