As someone who largely keeps to himself, I have a quarantine-inspired confession to make. I’m so incredibly blessed and grateful for the company my roommates provide. I am opposed to taking personality tests too seriously, since they tend to oversimplify personalities, but they can provide some good insights. The one constant that comes across the different personality profiles for me is that I’m more of an introvert than an extrovert. This would certainly not shock my roommates, as I tend to vanish into my room for hours at a time, only coming out when someone actually asks me a question.
As someone who is more of an introvert, I definitely enjoyed some of the many memes that came out at the beginning of quarantine that joked about it being the introverts time to shine, or live their best lives, or any of a million other lines making the same point. It didn’t take long, though, before I realized that my introversion has some clearly defined limits. I have house-sat for my parents while they were away, and half-way through my week by myself, I had to have the roommates over.
Introvert or extrovert, either way, we are still social animals. This time of social distancing has absolutely driven home the point that, as much as I like my me-time, I need to have other people around. My roommates have always been a blessing, but it’s been highlighted by this time. When I don’t have the option of actually attending Mass or being with my church community, I have roommates who pray together daily. When I get stuck in my own head, anxious over all the uncertainty that COVID has brought, I have roommates who will either engage or distract, whatever the situation calls for.
Long story short, no matter what we may have thought going into this social distancing, we ought to know by this point that we all need other people. Introvert, extrovert, it doesn’t matter. Reach out, either because you need it, or because you know somebody else does. As always, stay healthy, stay safe, and stay smart, but don’t stay in isolation.
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