Introversion

THE FULL DEPTH

The orientation of psychic energy inward, toward the subject rather than the object. The introvert's primary relationship is with the inner world: ideas, images, reflections, the subjective experience of things. This is not shyness or social avoidance. It's a fundamental orientation toward the interior. The introvert processes experience by going inward first.

IN PRACTICE

The introvert needs to go home after the party not because they didn't enjoy it, but because they need to process it internally before it's real to them. Ideas matter more than events. The inner response to an experience is more vivid than the experience itself. Introverts often find that they didn't know what they thought about something until they wrote about it or sat with it alone.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE IT

• · Needing solitude to recharge after social engagement
• · Processing experiences internally before discussing them
• · Rich inner life that may not be visible to others
• · Preference for depth over breadth in relationships and interests
• · Feeling drained by prolonged external engagement

IN DREAMS, LOOK FOR

cavehouse interiorBook / Library / WritingNight / Darkness

CONNECTED CONCEPTS

• Extraversion: The fundamental attitudinal axis. Everyone has both; one is dominant.
• The Persona: The introvert's Persona is often an adapted extraverted front: the social performance feels costly.
• Compensation: An extreme introvert will be compensated by unconscious extraversion: sudden, awkward eruptions of outer engagement.