IT’S MY WORLD – AND YOU CAN STAY THE HELL OUT OF IT!

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10 Responses

  1. DensityDuck says:

    That said, most of the people we interacted with at the local Place That Has Stuff didn’t actually become close friends. They were just That Dude You Saw Every Time and then maybe after a couple times of not seeing him you’d be like, “oh hey, wonder what happened to That Dude I Saw Every Time”.Report

  2. JoeSal says:

    Keep calm and read Josiah Warren, amen sister.Report

  3. Mike Dwyer says:

    “No wonder we have such a hard time relating to other people. It’s hard to see another person’s point of view when you’ve gone to so much trouble to craft your own – and to make sure that nothing unpleasant wanders into it!”

    I was on a walking tour of an area of Louisville recently that was once filled with German-American families (my relatives among them). The main employer there was a large textile mill. Everyone lived within a few blocks and the neighborhood was also filled with pubs and every house had a front porch on which you would visit with your neighbors. So people talked on the way to work, on the way home from work, at the pub, on their front porches, etc. Someone also made a point that it was also a lot easier for union organizers back then because you could easily talk to workers as they were coming to and from work. Once that stopped, unions began their long decline.Report

  4. Damon says:

    Well, I’m not that bad….but I live similarly. I listen to the news during the commute or music. I do socialize–with nerds, the gf, and at class. But if I’ve been on social media a dozen times this year, it’s an aberration. I use it a lot only when the gf is visiting “ze home country”, otherwise I ignore the insanity. That probably is the single most significant thing I do that keeps me “free”. My liberal friends and I generally have an unwritten rule that we don’t talk politics–same for my more conservative friends. If you “go there” then I either smile and shrug my shoulders-keeping my opinion to myself, or I go full anarchist and start pushing back on every they said so much that they get frustrated and annoyed that I challenged their world view.

    I’m not likely to change my opinions, neither or they. But my world doesn’t require that I only associate with people who agree with me, unlike too many people I’ve run into over the years.Report

  5. North says:

    I’m an introvert myself so this sounds lovely. I think my introversion has limits, though, as I eventually get bored when I am left with a couple of days to spend entirely on myself and by myself.
    So is it “wrong”? Certainly not morally. Perhaps in the big picture/long view perspective your lifestyle is sub-optimal? But you do you!Report

    • Mike Dwyer in reply to North says:

      Technically I am an ambivert ( I feel so cool having an edgy label!)

      https://www.scienceofpeople.com/ambivert/

      Generally I like being around people and it energizes me, but I also really value my alone time and the idea of having the house to myself for a couple of days and not setting foot out the front door is pretty awesome too. My job forces me to be extroverted at work, but in my personal life I make a really conscious effort to always be involved with at least a couple of different groups that force me to be social. Right now it’s the pointing breeds club and my disc golf league. It would be very easy for me to spend all day on social media so I need that balance.

      Report

  6. Fish says:

    I’m told that I’m an extrovert, but all of this sounds pretty dreamy to me. Excellent post.Report

  7. Doctor Jay says:

    It seems to me that you are enjoying a season of Things The Way I Like Them that you have maybe never had before. Which is great, but maybe not a permanent state of affairs.

    I have my limit when it comes to social contact. I get to a point of “that’s enough, go away now”. And I’m terrible at small talk, it makes me anxious.

    But I also like seeing people. It also seems to me that if that were everything, you wouldn’t have written this piece and worked to have it published.Report

  8. I adore this piece! Really enjoyed it, thanks for sharing it with us!Report