On Being an Introvert.

Why hello there!

I have just had one of those fabulously productive, yet restful days. It has been truly wonderful.

My lovely daffodils are just about hanging in there, it’s so nice to have the bright pop of colour spring out at me every morning when I open my curtains 🙂

Recently, Tessa over at Amazing Asset posted a blog on intentional isolation and it really spoke to me.

University is usually one of those times, especially the first year, when you actually spend very little time alone (apart from when sleeping…and even then not always!).

You have lectures, seminars, labs, etc, you eat with your friends, you spend time in each others’ rooms, in the communal areas, you go to societies and clubs, you drink with friends, you go to the bar with friends, you go out with friends…

For most, nearly all of your daily activities are with other people or at least in the presence of other people. It’s a very social atmosphere.

But for me it’s a little different.

I am naturally introverted. I wasn’t always though, as a child I was pretty extroverted, I talked to anyone and everyone and I took part in lots of social activities. Then, various experiences I had whilst growing through my teenage years made me lose a lot of my confidence and become shy around people I didn’t know or people I didn’t trust. I gradually became an introvert.

At uni, I’m not a massively social person. I tried, I really did try. As you know if you’ve been reading my blog since around October, I joined several societies, I tried to throw myself into going out, I’ve made a huge effort to chat with each person I encounter but because of my rapidly worsening condition I had to give a lot of that stuff up (obviously not the talking to people bit) and as a consequence, I’ve ended up spending a lot of time on my own.

The thing is, I genuinely enjoy being alone. As strange as that might sound to some.

In fact, I actually love my alone time! Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love spending time with those I love, all of the brilliant friends I’ve made here and my lovely friends back home. I relish the time I get to spend with Tom after weeks apart and feel like I don’t want to be separated from him again.

But I would feel really oppressed if I didn’t ever get any time alone.

I love being on my own, curled up in my blanket with a good book. I love working out on my own in my room, powering through an intense workout DVD, throwing my weight about (not literally don’t worry) during some serious strength training, or relaxing into a nice stretch session. I love reading all of your blogs and writing my own posts without having someone there to see what I’m doing. I need to be alone to work and to write.

I have come to a conclusion on all of this. I think it is perfectly fine, and even healthy, to enjoy spending time by myself. Even for long periods, it gives you time to focus and time to reflect. And then it is also absolutely normal to want to spend time with all of the people I care about and to enjoy the hours spent with Tom, with my family and my friends.

And today was one of those marvelous alone days!

I had breakfast in bed and I read the end of Shame (strange, strange book). Eventually I got up and got ready then read some more. I have A LOT of reading to do this weekend. Then I ate a pretty tasty, snacky lunch:

Three chili thins, a handful of spicy roasted chickpeas, a little pot of sweet chili hummus (chili theme going on here, non?), a stick of celery, a cherry tomato and three giant strawberries. The strawberries weren’t at their best but who am I to be fussy. My favourite sort of lunches are ones like this. Perfect and light.

I had plans to go to the gym today but as it was so mild and spring-like today I thought I’d much rather be outside than in the sweaty-aired gym. Fresh air is good for the soul dontcha know. So I hopped on my bike and went off for a 30 minute cycle. It was fantastic, I felt so fresh and invigorated when I got back in.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working and reading and then decided that I wanted to make something. And that something is this:

Delicious. Ridiculously simple to make. Thank you Nigel Slater. Seriously I recommend his books, the way he writes about food is just beautiful. This is from his book, Real Fast Puddings, in which he gives you details and recipes of the seasonal ingredients that form puddings through the year. It’s a lovely little book and I can’t wait to try more of the recipes. I might put this one up for you with the little alterations I made. (That’s not plagiarism is it? Surely not if I’ve referenced properly right?)

After baking I decided to go do  Jillian Michaels: 6 Weeks to Six-Pack DVD which left my core feeling sufficiently sore and me feeling pretty satisfied with myself.

Dinner followed, some more reading, a documentary with some adorable grizzly bear cubs and now it’s time for bed!

Are you an extrovert or an introvert?
Do you enjoy spending more of your time surrounded by people or alone?
Have you baked lately? Any fantastic baking recipes?