Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

Abstract

overt, extrovert or anything else in between it doesn’t matter. Family and friends in the flesh are creeping back into our lives. I spend most of my working days on video conferencing calls and have done for years so all those new-fangled video apps aren’t new to me. I’m SO over them, especially when loved ones are on the other end of them.It’s my birthday later this week and I’m getting the best birthday present you could give me. Dinner with my Mum and Dad followed by a few nights at home with them. We’ll talk, we’ll read, we’ll watch TV, we’ll sit in silence, my mum will fuss over me.That to me is the very definition of joy.That coffee I mentioned earlier. That is so much more than coffee. It’s familiar faces, familiar chit chat about the weather, familiar taste and smell. It’s familiar, simple joy.<h2 id="77e5">Choices</h2>A lot has been said about how we will emerge out of this. I’ve even written about it myself. Obviously, it will be different for everyone, but my sincere wish is that people see the world now as filled with things we “get to do” rather than things we “have to do”.I’m not great at saying no to things and I won’t pretend lockdown has made a significant difference to that trait. That being said, we’ve been given a chance to approach our post-lockdown world with a little more thought. Speaking personally, I have come to realise I live a life of comfort and privilege by most measures. That perspective can get lost in the rat-race. We can easily fall into patterns of thinking that convince us we are slaves to our masters, be those masters our companies or our wallets.Of course, we have responsibilities and not every minute of every day will be rainbows and unicorns. However, the restart of “normal” life gives us the chance to make the choice to see what we do as the “enabler” of our lifestyle and not the definition of who we are. If we don’t like what we’re doing, we have a choice. Most might not be able to change it today, tomorrow or next week but, we have a choice.Over the past 12 weeks, it becomes increasingly clear to me that the “things” of life really don’t matter when the chips are down. As someone who’s worked hard for the last 20 years, I look at it now and see how far I’ve come and what I

Options

’ve achieved. All of that is nice and makes me feel good but it’s the people are around me that matter, not the things. From here on I choose people!<h2 id="36fd">Appreciation</h2>Over the last 3 months or so we’ve all had our “chosen few”. The people whom fate, circumstance and maybe even choice has dictated we are “locked down” with. In my house, it’s my wife, our five dogs and two cats.Over the past 3 months, we’ve been in closer contact hour by hour, day by day then either of us bargained for when we got married 20 years ago next month.We’ve had our moments that’s for sure and I certainly won’t speak for her here but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to have spent lockdown with anyone else. While I would say we appreciate each other more I think it’s more accurate to say we understand each other more.Confinement can do funny things to the mind as history has shown. I think we now have at least some appreciation of that and that is so valuable.Working from home, I was never very good at demarcating the workday and the personal day. They bled into each other far too much. Since the office shutdown, I’ve made a point of shutting off work at 5pm every evening and trying to appreciate downtime and family time. I say “trying” because” it is most definitely a work in progress but a project I will definitely be carrying forward into the post-COVID world.What have I done with that time? In a word “nature”. No, not long walks in the country. Simply spending time out the back listening to the birds and being in the fresh air.Our Polytunnel is way ahead of this time last year thanks for my green figured wife. There are fewer more satisfying things than seeing food grow. I can’t say I truly appreciated that until this. These past few weeks have also been Apple Blossom time. Have you ever stood under an Apple tree in full bloom and just listened to the bees? Sheer bliss!So, as the economies of the world creak and strain into action what does that mean for an introvert that quite enjoyed it?It means I will find joy in the people I have not seen, perspective in the renewed choices available to me and an appreciation for the people around me every day.Vive la liberté!</article></body>

An Introvert Coming Out of Lockdown

It’s Sunday morning in early June. Today is my sole weekly trip out of the house to get the Sunday newspapers. For the last 2 weeks, this has also included a takeout coffee from my favourite, reopened, café.

Here’s the thing.

I’m not bothered whether I go or not. If my wife said she’d pop to the shop that would be fine with me.

For the past 12 week’s I’ve been locked down the same as pretty much everyone else and quite honestly, I’ve enjoyed it.

About 3 years ago I began to consider taking a break from alcohol because I didn’t like the way it was making me feel both mentally and physically. I never intended to stay off alcohol long term but I’m now coming up on 2.5 years alcohol-free.

The experience has transformed my life and part of that transformation is the realisation that I’m an introvert.

Now that wouldn’t be an earth-shattering revelation for anyone who knows me. I was never the loudest voice at the party. I think maybe the transformation was a bit more subtle than that. I made peace with the introverted me.

It should have come in no surprise because I’ve always had my head in books. For reasons that largely still remain unknown, I tried my best to change that in my adulthood and become more outgoing. Alcohol “helped” with that “change”. It only with clarity of mind that I acknowledged and accepted the bookish nerd I grew up with.

So, when the news hits that we need to stay home for a couple of months, I saw absolutely no problem with that! It helped that I was classed as part of a vulnerable group so had a ready-made excuse if asked to go anywhere.

So now as lockdown begins to ease in my part of the world, options outside of my bubble are beginning to present themselves.

What does the future hold for an introvert plonked right in the middle of their comfort zone for the last 3 months?

Three words spring to mind to answer that question. Joy, choices and appreciation.

Joy

Introvert, extrovert or anything else in between it doesn’t matter. Family and friends in the flesh are creeping back into our lives. I spend most of my working days on video conferencing calls and have done for years so all those new-fangled video apps aren’t new to me. I’m SO over them, especially when loved ones are on the other end of them.

It’s my birthday later this week and I’m getting the best birthday present you could give me. Dinner with my Mum and Dad followed by a few nights at home with them. We’ll talk, we’ll read, we’ll watch TV, we’ll sit in silence, my mum will fuss over me.

That to me is the very definition of joy.

That coffee I mentioned earlier. That is so much more than coffee. It’s familiar faces, familiar chit chat about the weather, familiar taste and smell. It’s familiar, simple joy.

Choices

A lot has been said about how we will emerge out of this. I’ve even written about it myself. Obviously, it will be different for everyone, but my sincere wish is that people see the world now as filled with things we “get to do” rather than things we “have to do”.

I’m not great at saying no to things and I won’t pretend lockdown has made a significant difference to that trait. That being said, we’ve been given a chance to approach our post-lockdown world with a little more thought. Speaking personally, I have come to realise I live a life of comfort and privilege by most measures. That perspective can get lost in the rat-race. We can easily fall into patterns of thinking that convince us we are slaves to our masters, be those masters our companies or our wallets.

Of course, we have responsibilities and not every minute of every day will be rainbows and unicorns. However, the restart of “normal” life gives us the chance to make the choice to see what we do as the “enabler” of our lifestyle and not the definition of who we are. If we don’t like what we’re doing, we have a choice. Most might not be able to change it today, tomorrow or next week but, we have a choice.

Over the past 12 weeks, it becomes increasingly clear to me that the “things” of life really don’t matter when the chips are down. As someone who’s worked hard for the last 20 years, I look at it now and see how far I’ve come and what I’ve achieved. All of that is nice and makes me feel good but it’s the people are around me that matter, not the things. From here on I choose people!

Appreciation

Over the last 3 months or so we’ve all had our “chosen few”. The people whom fate, circumstance and maybe even choice has dictated we are “locked down” with. In my house, it’s my wife, our five dogs and two cats.

Over the past 3 months, we’ve been in closer contact hour by hour, day by day then either of us bargained for when we got married 20 years ago next month.

We’ve had our moments that’s for sure and I certainly won’t speak for her here but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to have spent lockdown with anyone else. While I would say we appreciate each other more I think it’s more accurate to say we understand each other more.

Confinement can do funny things to the mind as history has shown. I think we now have at least some appreciation of that and that is so valuable.

Working from home, I was never very good at demarcating the workday and the personal day. They bled into each other far too much. Since the office shutdown, I’ve made a point of shutting off work at 5pm every evening and trying to appreciate downtime and family time. I say “trying” because” it is most definitely a work in progress but a project I will definitely be carrying forward into the post-COVID world.

What have I done with that time? In a word “nature”. No, not long walks in the country. Simply spending time out the back listening to the birds and being in the fresh air.

Our Polytunnel is way ahead of this time last year thanks for my green figured wife. There are fewer more satisfying things than seeing food grow. I can’t say I truly appreciated that until this. These past few weeks have also been Apple Blossom time. Have you ever stood under an Apple tree in full bloom and just listened to the bees? Sheer bliss!

So, as the economies of the world creak and strain into action what does that mean for an introvert that quite enjoyed it?

It means I will find joy in the people I have not seen, perspective in the renewed choices available to me and an appreciation for the people around me every day.

Vive la liberté!