A Personal Epiphany on My Extroversion

[Dreamer]

So I am curious to know if any other extroverts feel this way, or see their extroversion used in the way I realize, I do. I was watching a YouTube video of an INFP talking about his introversion and how being around other people, interacting and processing all at the same time is very draining for him, rather than working through a dominant extroverted function that prefers to work on the fly and only later needs to process things. But his account got me thinking, I enjoy my down time quite a bit, so much so that I thought...well still think on occasion, that I am an introvert. But what I see my extroversion actually doing for me, the real use to it for me (throw out the typical extroverted response of feeding off other people) is that it gets me out of my head. I feel as though I am constantly running through thoughts all the time, whether that's based on my external environment and focused outwardly like through interactions with people, or when I'm alone, and those thoughts then get directed on myself.

Tying this into a question posed by [MENTION=27162]Cloudpatrol[/MENTION] in my Ask Me thread, about if I seek out external feedback and why, the answer is yes. But WHY? The reason I suddenly discovered, is because I do need that constant banter with someone else, that constant brainstorm of sorts with another person. I can do it with myself, and you can clearly see that in the videos I posted. I tend to answer my own questions or go off on tangents, from my own ideas. If left on my own, I do the exact same braintstorm process, but with myself. The problem with this for too long a period though, is that it becomes too easy for me to start going in circles with no new information to feed off of, and throw in a decline in emotion due to being alone for too long, and that feedback loop with myself starts spiraling downwards.

So to pose the question again, or slightly differently, what do you, as an extrovert, specifically see is the use of your extroversion? What do you specifically gain from it? It's safe to say that extroverting for extroverts keeps one mentally healthy, but I'm interested in the how?

 

[Kierva]

So I am curious to know if any other extroverts feel this way, or see their extroversion used in the way I realize, I do. I was watching a YouTube video of an INFP talking about his introversion and how being around other people, interacting and processing all at the same time is very draining for him, rather than working through a dominant extroverted function that prefers to work on the fly and only later needs to process things. But his account got me thinking, I enjoy my down time quite a bit, so much so that I thought...well still think on occasion, that I am an introvert. But what I see my extroversion actually doing for me, the real use to it for me (throw out the typical extroverted response of feeding off other people) is that it gets me out of my head. I feel as though I am constantly running through thoughts all the time, whether that's based on my external environment and focused outwardly like through interactions with people, or when I'm alone, and those thoughts then get directed on myself.

Tying this into a question posed by [MENTION=27162]Cloudpatrol[/MENTION] in my Ask Me thread, about if I seek out external feedback and why, the answer is yes. But WHY? The reason I suddenly discovered, is because I do need that constant banter with someone else, that constant brainstorm of sorts with another person. I can do it with myself, and you can clearly see that in the videos I posted. I tend to answer my own questions or go off on tangents, from my own ideas. If left on my own, I do the exact same braintstorm process, but with myself. The problem with this for too long a period though, is that it becomes too easy for me to start going in circles with no new information to feed off of, and throw in a decline in emotion due to being alone for too long, and that feedback loop with myself starts spiraling downwards.

So to pose the question again, or slightly differently, what do you, as an extrovert, specifically see is the use of your extroversion? What do you specifically gain from it? It's safe to say that extroverting for extroverts keeps one mentally healthy, but I'm interested in the how?

I use it to gain input from others, so that I can bolster whatever it is I'm thinking or working on to a more well-rounded idea. I tend to be quite single-minded and tend to miss subtleties, mostly details. I sort of need someone to look out for me when it comes to these details.

I also use it so that I don't get so caught up with myself, in an endless loop of manic excitement, endless rage and pitiful self-loathing. In a way, I also use it to distract myself.

Even then, my downtime consists of me doing other things that keep my mind busy -- things that don't make me think about myself. I'm solely focused on the object -- like when I'm gaming, I'm focused on landing and aiming my combos right so I get the kill, if I'm singing, I'm focused on getting the pitch and resonance right, or if I'm cooking, I'm focused on cutting the meat right to cook right. It's never about me in relation to whatever it is I'm doing. It's always about what I'm engaged on, what I'm doing correctly or wrongly, how can I improve it and how it will come across to others.

As an aside, if I do seem somewhat narcissistic or self-absorbed for asking you or other people about myself, just remember that I truly don't have an idea of myself objectively (I mean, who does), and I'm seeking input from you to put things objectively.