Introverts

If you look up the definition for 'introvert' in Google, it will give you the definition that an introvert is a shy, reticent, and self-centered person.

That is definitely not true.  I feel like this definition has been payed by some nationalistic American culture group to Google to give this perception of introverts since America obviously favours extroverts.

The better and more accurate definition of an introvert is someone who enjoys thinking and exploring their own thoughts and feelings.  Most of the time, they think a lot before they speak and crave for meaningful conversations.

I am definitely a huge introvert - I like to think, explore, and discover new ideas and concepts.  I like to think about feelings, sometimes feelings that I don't even have.  I prefer solitary activities over social ones.  I prefer to have few, close friends rather than a large number of mere acquaintances.  Most of the conversations I have with my closest friends are meaningful, deep, intellectual, and if we're both Christian, spiritual.

However, I don't consider myself shy.  I love playing and performing music in front of big crowds and anxiety is not an issue.  I used to adore and take part in the theatre arts (and still do, I just admire it from a distance now since it's not something I'm as passionate about anymore).  If you open up to me, I'll gladly open up to you.  I'm just not one to initiate conversations - but I will try to keep them going.  I can be very expressive in social settings even with people I don't really know, and I do enjoy being around people I am closest with or comfortable with - just not all the time.  I need a break. I need a recharge.

I am not reticent, nor am I uncommunicative.  Granted, I have trouble clearly expressing my thoughts, but I still do so anyways, even if it makes no sense when the words come out of my mouth.  I have random outbursts of expressing myself in strange or even awkward ways - something a 'reticent' person would not do.

'Self-centered'?  Alright, so extroverted people AREN'T self-centered?  Every extrovert is empathetic and selfless all the time, then?  This is just an insult of a description.  Introverts do like to think about their own feelings a lot, but that doesn't make us self-centered.  If anything, taking the time to understand our own thoughts and feelings allows us to realize that every other human being has some sort of similar thought process as we do, and that can make introverts all the more empathetic.

I'm not trying to downtalk extroverts here, I'm just trying to clarify the usually misunderstood characteristics of an introvert.  You need people who yearn to understand the depths of our seas and people who desire to understand the vastness of the universe.  And sometimes, there are people want to learn more about both.