Experience – Stepping Stones

Introverts and Socialising – Insights & Themes (Enhanced Extracts)

A compilation of extracts from a variety of articles to reveal the nature of introverts in relation to the conditions of socialising and their experiences with it. Organized by ten themes, this series of concise passages aims to provide much needed perspective on an obscured topic, and a source that may serve as a useful reference.

The nature of introversion and the conditions of socialising.

Last year I discovered and read the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain (2012). Having not explored the topic of introversion and extraversion personality types, I gained much perspective on these concepts through the author’s research and insights. Being an introvert herself, Cain clarifies not just what it means to be of introverted nature but to be so in a world conditioned by extraverted traits, behaviours, and ideals.

Since then, this general perspective of introversion vis-à-vis extraverted culture has remained at the back of my mind in relation to my routine social experiences. Recently, I decided to further explore not the general topic, but rather discussion of introverted nature in the context of the social experiences of introverts. In other words, I sought information that was more personally relevant to being introverted in an extraverted social world; and essentially, to identify, clarify, and examine the conditions, effects, and factors of this inter-personality relationship.

Solitude in Context – Part III: Quotations and Themes

This third part of Solitude in Context features a selection of quotations – from various authors and famous figures of the past and present – that indicate many aspects of solitude and collectively highlight its value.

As a natural, personal, and essential mode of being, solitude has been described and appreciated in many ways throughout history. To complement the analyses of Part I and Part II, here is presented quotations by authors and public figures that collectively highlight the essence and value of solitude. Selected from a few different listings, these quotes on solitude are organized into themes and feature an emboldened phrase in each to indicate what I consider to be the central point of interest.

Solitude in Context – Part I: Being and Culture

The first in a series on solitude and solitary activity, this article outlines the personal, interpersonal, and social modes of being before discussing how postmodern culture obscures solitude and attenuates personal being.

*A consideration of* *personal being in the postmodern world.*

Solitude is an integral aspect of human experience, hence its eternal relevance. By intention or by circumstance to either positive or negative effect, people experience periods of aloneness to some extent and degree. More fundamentally, a human being is a separate sentient entity prior to his associations with others, no matter the degree to which he is immersed in a social environment. Thus, solitude is an inherent aspect of life whether one cultivates it personally or suppresses it collectively.

Based on my regular practice of solitary activities (which are to be the topic of subsequent articles), this article establishes solitude as an important yet misrepresented aspect of life. After outlining modes of being I then discuss the sociocultural status of solitude in the postmodern world, specifically, the various ways it has been disassociated from its authentic meaning and demoted from its traditional value.