Why are you so quiet? You seem so shy?
These have been questions that I’ve heard from countless people all of my life. It has always been something that bothered me. Family functions, school settings and social outings have all been places where I’ve been harassed for not being the loudest person in the room. Although I can have my shy moments, I’ve never seen it as a problem. I thought that everyone gets shy at times, but often times I’ve been made out to seem like I’m completely terrified by the idea of any type of human interaction.

People would always tell me that my being quiet was a hindering quality while I thought that it was fine. When I was in seventh grade I had so much pressure to become extroverted. I ended up just coming across as loud and annoying. I was trying to hard to be anything but my true self. I wondered what was so wrong with being introverted and I came to the conclusion that the answer is nothing.

I feel like society has a lot of misconception on what being introverted truly means. People tend to perceive introverts as people who are anti-social, but we don’t reject or withdraw from being social. Introverts are avid thinkers who are preoccupied with their own thoughts. There are tons of misconceptions so in effort to provide some understanding of the dynamic of an introvert:
-We enjoy laid back and quiet settings, but we still enjoy bars and clubs as much as the next alcoholic
-We like to take time to really get to know people before we open up to someone, but that doesn’t mean we wont be friendly in the process
-Hearing the sound of our own voice isn’t a must for us like it is for others, what is an awkward silence to some is totally fine for us
-We’re not scared of people.
-Confrontation when needed is not a problem. When it’s time to go after something or defend our selves, we usually step up to the plate
-Extraverts aren’t the enemy, what’s a circle of extroverted friends without an introvert or two?

Being introverted is not the problem here. The real problem is people making others feels ashamed for having these qualities. The most important thing to realize is there is a major gray area to being introverted or extroverted- no one can fully fit the description of either title and the perceptions that come along with it. It’s best to just respect the differences amongst each other while appreciating the similarities.
And for all introverts who feel or have ever felt subject to change, here’s an amazing video on why being introvert is completely fine: