It's something that I've probably known all along, intrinsically. But I was able to put it into words yesterday, which made me extremely conscious of it. Therefore, it feels like a revelation.
Alex and I were driving to Walmart. We were talking, as friends typically do when they're together. He asked me if I watched the game on Saturday.
"Look at my face," I said, drawing a circle around it in the air with my pointer finger. "Does it look like I watched the game?"
He laughed. "I don't know, you might have."
"Well, I didn't. I was at work when it started anyway. I would've watched it when I got home if I had been with people."
"I feel like you say that about everything..."
It's that qualifier: "if I had been with people." We proceeded to discuss how I never go out of my way to watch TV shows -- I only watch them when in the company of others. I don't seek out movies that I want to see -- I watch them when other people want to. There are so many things that I only do when I'm with friends who are doing those things. It's weird.
"So," Alex asked, "What do you do by yourself?"
I thought about it. And honestly? I couldn't come up with anything. "I think..." I said slowly, intrigued by the words that were about to come out of my mouth, "I think I'm just usually with people."
This was new to me. I mean, I've always known that I like to be around people, but I guess what I never thought about was the extent to which this enjoyment goes. I really do not prefer to be alone. It's not that I'm scared of being along or I feel uncomfortable by myself -- quite the contrary. I appreciate alone time. Going to see Jersey Boys by myself was arguably one of the best nights of my life. But I don't need as much quality alone time as most people do. Lots of people need hours every day to be by themselves or they'll go crazy; I could spend every waking hour of my day with someone I enjoyed being around and remain perfectly sane. I really, really just like to be around people. People that I like to be around, anyway. Heh. I like being around people that I like to be around. I also like to write sentences that are redundant and repetitive (see what I did there?).
Thinking about it, though, I do spend time alone... Yeah, I do. I take my alone time before I go to sleep. That's why I stay up fairly late -- I listen to music and think about things and take three times too long to finish homework because I "multitask" (read: peruse Pinterest and le facebook). Such is life.
In other news, I bought The Little Rascals yesterday. It was in the 5 dollar bin at Wally World. Who wants to watch it with me? Because heaven knows I'm not going to watch it by myself.
Cute. You are the anti-Daddy. He has watched hours and hours of TV and movies alone. I think he prefers it that way.
ReplyDeleteYou are an extrovert by temperament. You are energized by being around people. (Sal Palilla is another example of that personality type.) An introvert is drained by being around others. Daddy is that type. He needs his alone time to regenerate. He has told me more than once that if he hadn't married, he probably would have been a hermit.
AH! A difference! I'm a big fan of alone time. I don't need it everyday, but about once a week. Sundays (around the time when everyone is napping) is perfect...or on Saturdays, when I stay home all day and clean and dance around the house in my underwear. That's about it--I love being with people otherwise, but I also love watching shows by myself. :) Not needing alone time isn't a bad thing whatsoever, as long as you just don't HATE it like some people I've known. But needing people is a gift, I've come to realize. A gift I've worked hard to attain--I really would have become a hermit if I hadn't gone to college.
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