Quiet

#1 - I think it is from listening to the first 20 minutes of Quiet : [the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking] / Susan Cain. (which I really enjoyed), that I have been thinking about introverts/extroverts recently, especially in noticing how early this is apparent in my friend's children. I'd say by three years old it is pretty clear. I was talking to my teenage cousin about this yesterday telling her how I was pretty sure she was an introvert and that one of her sisters is an extrovert (and the other sister I'm not as sure about).

Anyway, my cousin wasn't really buying it so I just called her on the phone to see if she wanted to take one of the online tests. She was watching the Olympic trails so she said not now. I was going to end the conversation then, write my gratitudes and go to bed, but she was watching gymnastics, one of her favorite topics, and an hour later she was still talking to me. I had to laugh because it reminded me of myself. I remember telling my best friend in high school about people thinking I was so quiet and her saying that she didn't see me that way because I talked all the time! Same with my cousin, when I am with her and her sisters, she doesn't say a lot, her sisters are generally louder and more demanding of my attention. But on the phone with me tonight she talked non-stop.


#2 - She could relate when I started telling her how society often undervalues introversion, and that the Quiet book sounds interesting.


#3 - At the end of our conversation my cousin said she wanted to take the Meyer Briggs (an unofficial/free version) online with me later this week. I said, "Okay I'll call you some evening this week." Then she proceeded to say that we would need to do it by Wednesday because... and Monday and Tuesday there was...., basically thinking through her week. I said, "See you are a "J" (Judging), this is exactly the way a Judging person thinks." It was fun to have concrete examples of what I was failing to explain to her in the abstract.


#4 - We were asked to take five deep breathes at the beginning of yoga and think of a gratitude for each breath.


#5 - My niece loved the carrot juice, banana, lime, ginger smoothie her mom and I were drinking and kept signaling for more.