An Introvert’s Bag of Books (Photo credit: jurvetson)
I’m overwhelmed by your responses to my previous post, Am I British enough?, my very first post in 2013 on Jan 1. Thank you all for enlightening me and entertaining me at the same time, and your comments have helped me in dismantling my thoughts and looking at a simple question from fresh perspectives.
This leads me to another thought today. WordPress, especially the English platform, has enabled me to connect to this magical world unknown to me previously. Before blogging in English, it was impossible for me to connect to people in this manner. I’m a strong believer that at the moment and many years to come, English is still the most powerful language for global communication, though it may not be the most spoken language in the world. A strong urge for communication was the main reason I tried writing in English since last spring. I wanted to have a better understanding and to be understood more in an English speaking community.
At lunch with some friends today, I explained that blogging has enabled me to make new ‘friends’, to seek companionship and advice, to inspire and to be inspired, to educate and to be educated. It’s also been fantastic to unearth a wealth of great stories from some brilliant storytellers, to get completely blown away. Of course, in real life, I can still count on a few close friends whose company I cherish tremendously. I haven’t given up real friendship for my new acquaintances and friends I’ve encountered on the cyberspace. I’m not that daft.
Quiet, book by Susan Cain
Blogging is the most fitting for an introvert, like me. Janet being an introvert? That’s a revelation, isn’t it? I’m friendly and bubbly, however, fundamentally I’m an introvert. I enjoy solitude. The world is a busy place designed for extroverts. When I need to communicate, I communicate in the most comfortable form that suits my characters well, through the power of words.
This evening I listened to Susan Cain‘s brilliant speech again. It’s about The Power of Introverts. It’s one of the best TED Talks last year. The subtitles cover 38 languages. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.
Text:
The Power of Introverts, Susan Cain
When I was nine years old I went off to summer camp for the first time. And my mother packed me a suitcase full of books, which to me seemed like a perfectly natural thing to do. Because in my family, reading was the primary group activity. And this might sound antisocial to you, but for us it was really just a different way of being social. You have the animal warmth of your family sitting right next to you, but you are also free to go roaming around the adventure land inside your own mind. And I had this idea that camp was going to be just like this, but better. (Laughter) I had a vision of 10 girls sitting in a cabin cozily reading books in their matching nightgowns. Continue reading
