Introvert vs. Extrovert

The other night, my mom grabbed a TIME magazine and shoved it in my face while I was watching 'Smash' on the computer. My mom was acting like a four-year-old who'd just discovered the magic of pixie sticks. The article she wanted me to read was called something like 'It's okay to be shy'.

Oh, the horror.

I spend a good chunk of time sitting in the car listening to my mom tell me that I have to talk more or else I'll turn into a creepy old man and rot away in a cave. (a cave with internet connection, though. And I've never wanted to be a guy, so I don't see how that'll happen. Sex changes cost a lot, ya know) She goes on and on about this story about how when she was my age, she was as shy as I was. Honestly, I think she's lying when she says that. She makes up all this crazy stories whenever we complain about anything about how her life was so much worse and yada yada yada. But now she can talk to anyone without feeling shy about it. Then she points out that her grammar and pronunciation suck because English is her second language.

But my mom is not an introvert. She goes insane when she has to stay home for longer than a weekend. My mom always needs to be chatting with someone or doing something or else she'll start to feel boxed in and panicky. I happen to be the exact opposite. When given the choice, I'd rather stay home. On Sunday nights, when I realize that I have to go to school the following day and see a bunch of (stupid) people, I freak out.

Okay, boring backstory aside, I'm not really much of an introvert either. I can't concentrate for long.

But my mom handed me this magazine and was like "It's okay. You can still be successful and quiet." when only hours before, she was yelling at me to be louder and get my thoughts out into the world. She was so giddy about it, so that cancels out the article being some kind of an apology.

So, like any bookish nerd, I read the article. And guess what? It told me that I'm not really an introvert.

(My mom didn't even read the article. It's hilarious, actually. I thought she'd start saying weird things like 'Presidents can be introverts. Introverts can be CEO's of big companies.' Because I don't want to do any of those things at all.)

I'll admit it; after reading the article, I laughed. Then I got pissed. What kind of a person would dare tell me that I'm not an introvert? Me, the girl who preferred fictional characters over any real kind of company? (Did I mention that conversations make me panicked? In books, it's all scripted out.)

Okay, okay, so I might have some kind of social phobia rather than normal introversion.

So here's what I think introverts and extroverts are like. This will be explained simply because I have the thought process of a six-year-old and with vampires as examples because I'm a YA paranormal reader.

Say you're a loner vampire (introvert). It doesn't necessarily mean you hate people. It just means lots of people and big events stress you out. Heck, you might even enjoy being with lots of people and participating in huge events, but those things tire you. You 'feed' on small projects you do by yourself.

Now, let's say you're a stereotypical sexy vampire. (extrovert. Don't kill eat me. I know stereotypical vampires are the loner sort.) It doesn't mean you hate being by yourself and working. You just 'feed' off the energy that crowds give you. Human interaction wakes you up and energizes you. You like being around people and doing things that'll throw you in new places.

So, yeah, these two vampire types are kind of on the extreme ends. There's a huge area in between that most people fall under.

This is a weird post. I just had to throw my thoughts out there on this classification.