ladyinspring
New member
- Joined
- May 7, 2009
- Messages
- 76
- MBTI Type
- INFP
I'm not lazy! Okay, I just realized that. Something BlackCat said about the differences between how introverts recharge and how extroverts recharge has been on my mind. I may be behind the curve on this, but do other introverts have trouble truly relaxing? Do you find that a lot of the activities that drain the energy of extroverts (thus allowing them to relax mentally) are the very activities that give you a lot of energy?
For me, activities like reading or surfing the internet are not relaxing at all. They can be pretty invigorating and energizing, which is a good thing, but if I engage in these activities all the time then I am not truly getting to relax, and relaxation is important. Color me dumb, but I didn't realize this until today.
I was talking to someone about this feeling of pressure and perfectionism that is there sometimes and she asked me if I take the time to relax. And I was like, what do you mean? I don't do anything productive, not really. I spend most of my day doing what I want to do. I don't get up and slave at work 8 hours a day like my father has since he was a teenager. I don't go out and volunteer every day like my mother. I am not socializing or engaging with people frequently. I am not the picture of American productiveness at all. I should be the epitome of relaxed.
But I think I just realized that these stereotypes of a "productive person" were based on extroverted Western ideals. When I looked at what I had done today, I had:
spent hours in fruity loops composing
written several long internet posts (and here is another one) on theories interesting to me
engaged in a lot of self-reflecting and analysis in preparation for and during a therapy session
watched a few hours of a television program I find particularly stimulating and interesting
wrote some stuff for my college class
read a bunch of blogs and articles
discovered a new website
played a computer game
done a lot of thinking
What I have realized is that all of these activities are stimulating, not relaxing. But since so many of them are introverted activities or things associated with "play" and not "work", I didn't realize just how relaxation-deprived I have been. So I have learned something new and now I think I actually have to schedule time to sit and do nothing (take a long bath, sit on the porch at dawn). Usually to drain myself of energy I end up socializing in some way, but that's not relaxing even if it's useful.
For me, activities like reading or surfing the internet are not relaxing at all. They can be pretty invigorating and energizing, which is a good thing, but if I engage in these activities all the time then I am not truly getting to relax, and relaxation is important. Color me dumb, but I didn't realize this until today.
I was talking to someone about this feeling of pressure and perfectionism that is there sometimes and she asked me if I take the time to relax. And I was like, what do you mean? I don't do anything productive, not really. I spend most of my day doing what I want to do. I don't get up and slave at work 8 hours a day like my father has since he was a teenager. I don't go out and volunteer every day like my mother. I am not socializing or engaging with people frequently. I am not the picture of American productiveness at all. I should be the epitome of relaxed.
But I think I just realized that these stereotypes of a "productive person" were based on extroverted Western ideals. When I looked at what I had done today, I had:
spent hours in fruity loops composing
written several long internet posts (and here is another one) on theories interesting to me
engaged in a lot of self-reflecting and analysis in preparation for and during a therapy session
watched a few hours of a television program I find particularly stimulating and interesting
wrote some stuff for my college class
read a bunch of blogs and articles
discovered a new website
played a computer game
done a lot of thinking
What I have realized is that all of these activities are stimulating, not relaxing. But since so many of them are introverted activities or things associated with "play" and not "work", I didn't realize just how relaxation-deprived I have been. So I have learned something new and now I think I actually have to schedule time to sit and do nothing (take a long bath, sit on the porch at dawn). Usually to drain myself of energy I end up socializing in some way, but that's not relaxing even if it's useful.
