Summary

The author shares ten personal facts to give readers a deeper insight into their life and personality, ranging from their inability to visualize images (aphantasia) to their past as a people pleaser and current status as a charismatic introvert.

Abstract

In a personal narrative, the author reveals ten lesser-known aspects of their life, including unique traits like aphantasia and a bad memory, alongside personal experiences such as overcoming a fear of rejection in relationships and managing anxiety without being a chronic worrier. The author also discusses their nerdy interests, previous ambition to become a programmer, and evolving relationship with music and animals. Despite a history of people-pleasing, the author emphasizes personal growth and a balanced approach to social interactions, cherishing both solitude and meaningful connections.

Opinions

The author views their aphantasia as a normal part of their life, not as a deficiency.
They consider themselves reasonably intelligent but admit to having a poor memory, which poses challenges in their college studies.
The author is unapologetic about their nerdy/geeky interests and is glad that such interests are now more widely accepted.
They express regret about not pursuing programming due to the memory demands of the field, yet they show no bitterness about moving on to other interests.
The author's relationship with music is casual, not considering it a significant part of their life.
They acknowledge past people-pleasing behavior but emphasize personal growth and the importance of prioritizing their own needs.
Despite being an introvert, the author is confident in their social abilities and values their capacity to form friendships.
The author attributes their late start in dating to fear of rejection and credits a forward partner with helping them gain confidence in this area.
Although not officially diagnosed, the author identifies with having anxiety and describes their unique experience with it, including infrequent worry but a strong aversion to confrontation.
The author has developed a fondness for animals, particularly after adopting a kitten, despite not being an animal lover in their youth.

10 Things You Don’t Know About Me

I’ll hop on this bandwagon and do some sharing!

So, I’ve seen a few stories with people sharing some details about themselves. I think it’s a cool idea! I was also tagged by Misty Rae, so I almost have to do this, lol. Here’s her story for those interested!

10 Things You Don’t Know About Me

Not Much To See Here…Or Is There?

medium.com

Okay, so let’s get this started!

I have aphantasia.

A lot of people don’t know what this is so I’ll give a quick explanation. Take a moment and picture something in your head. That image you see? I can’t do that. I’m unable to create images in my head like most people can.

I should clarify, that I can’t do it on purpose. I can have dreams, and when I’m falling asleep I’ll start to see images as well. I just can’t do it on purpose. I also don’t see images during the day, even by accident.

It sounds bad but it’s just normal for me.

I have a terrible memory.

So, I’m reasonably intelligent. I’m able to learn quickly and think quickly. One of my main issues though is that I have a really bad memory. I was able to do well in school growing up because we would spend enough time on a single thing that it would stick reasonably well.

Fast forward to today and I struggle with my college classes because we go through stuff so quickly I have a hard time remembering things as I go along. It doesn’t help that I’m not a fan of studying, lol.

I’m pretty nerdy/geeky.

Yeah, this one may not be a big shocker to some, lol. I’ve always been a big fan of all your typical nerd stuff, like video games, comic books, and the like. I never grew out of it. I still spend a good deal of my time reading fantasy books and playing video games.

Growing up, this made me a little bit of an outcast. It seems nowadays these things are all considered pretty normal. Born at the wrong time, huh?

I wanted to be a programmer before I started writing.

I know a fair amount about computers. I’m on one every day, practically all day, after all. I was really interested in becoming a programmer, primarily to make games.

Unfortunately, I realized that learning a language was just to memory intensive for me to be able to do well at it. I’d forget how to do basic stuff as I tried to learn the more complex stuff.

I know I could probably really put my nose to the grindstone and learn it but I just kind of moved on. It wasn’t my only interest anyway so it’s all good!

I don’t listen to a lot of music.

This one will likely be considered blasphemous but it’s true. Growing up, I only heard the music other people would play. I always enjoyed music, I just never went out of my way to listen to it as many others do.

In the last 5 years or so, I’ve gone out of my way to listen to music more often but it still isn’t a regular thing for me. Just not something I care too much about, I suppose.

I used to be a big people pleaser.

Luckily, I eventually “outgrew” this one, lol. I’ve always had anxiety. Tie that into not wanting to upset or disappoint people and you have a people pleaser. I suppose a part of it is that I was a genuinely nice person but yeah.

It wasn’t until about 10 years ago or so when I was around 25 that I started to take my own needs and wants more seriously. I still try to help people when I can but I’m not afraid to say no anymore. Honestly, it’s been a huge relief not caring nearly as much about what others think!

I’m a charismatic introvert!

Essentially, I’m a classic introvert. I don’t like to be hanging out with people all that often. I’m perfectly content going long stretches of time in my own company.

Despite this, I’ve never really had issues making friends and socializing. As a kid, it was harder but something clicked as an adult. Of course, even though I get along great with other people and have no issues shooting the shit, I will get burnt out if I spend too much time around other people. Hence, charismatic introvert, lol.

I didn’t have my first girlfriend until I was 28 years old.

Yeah, you read that right. I’d been on a single date prior to that but it wasn’t until I was 28 that I got my first girlfriend. It wasn’t that I was undatable or anything, I was just absolutely terrified of being rejected.

All I know is that I’m glad the woman I dated was so forward because dating her gave me the confidence to approach other women afterward. I’m not swimming in dates but I’ve had a few girlfriends since so I think I’m doing okay, lol.

I have anxiety.

I mentioned this in passing earlier. You may know this from a few other stories I’ve written but I’ll list this as well anyway, lol. To be specific, I’ve never been diagnosed. Despite this, I have most of the classic anxiety issues. I also have panic attacks, which are never fun!

One thing that’s interesting is that for the most part, I’m not a worrier. Many people with anxiety are often ridden with thoughts about things going wrong. For me, I’m the total opposite. I don’t really worry at all! I hate confrontation though, so I definitely do go deep into anxiety territory when I know that’s coming!

I wasn’t a big fan of animals growing up.

Honestly, still not for the most part. I like them more, especially since I got my baby kitty Razzy. Growing up though, I didn’t want to have any part of them. I wasn’t afraid of them or anything. I just didn’t really interact with them.

Funnily enough, I always either left animals alone or treated them well. I didn’t like to see them get hurt. My siblings, who liked animals probably about as much as anyone, would occasionally torment animals. I always found that weird, tbh.

They like animals but can treat them rather poorly and here I am, not a fan but always treat them well. To be clear, it was normal kid shenanigans but still, lol.

That’s it! Honestly, I’m so boring I struggled to make this list, lol. I hope it was at least a little interesting! If nothing else, it’s a little bit of a closer look at what makes me, me.