Hi, I'm Jules ...

... and I'm an introvert. I'm happy in my own company. I hate crowds and parties. I prefer to spend time at home. Some of my closest friends I've never met face-to-face - some I haven't even seen their faces!

Several weeks ago my workplace ran a training night on 'personality types'. I hate those kind of things. I've done a number of personality typing workshops over the years and the result is always the same: I never end up in the 'fun' group. It doesn't matter what this group is called - and it's usually the biggest group - it sounds far more interesting than the group I end up in.

Party-goers. Fun-lovers. People people. Peacocks. You can guarantee that wherever they are, something fun is going to be happening. Laughter, mirth, hilarity are never far away when they're around.

So I dragged my feet to this workshop, thinking I was going to be once more classified as 'boring'. The group no one else wants to belong to - or so I thought. That is until the facilitator announced that individuals in my group (and out of two dozen people in the room there were only three or four of us) are usually the most intelligent and creative. At least we've got something going for us!

Looking around at the other members of the group I was struck by the fact that to a greater or lesser degree we're all introverts. And I know that some of them - like me - have struggled with this fact.

We make excuses not to go out unless it's something we really want to attend. We're not into a 'night on the town' just because there's nothing better to do. In fact, we have something better to do even if it's just sitting at home reading a great book.

We don't speak up in a group unless we have something profound to say. We won't share our point of view if it's already been said by somebody else. We don't get a thrill out of hearing our own voices.

We like time to think before we reply. Or make a decision.

We're sometimes mistakenly labelled 'stand-offish' or 'unfriendly' because we don't make friends easily. But we tend to keep the friends we do make.

Naturally, people vary, and this isn't true for all introverts, but these are just some of my observations of the introverts I know and of myself.

Introverts are not wrong. We're not inferior. We're not socially inept. We just have a different way of being.

This is the way I am and I've been made this way for a reason. I feel fulfilled with my many online friendships. I don't need more friends in real life (well sometimes I think one or two more would be nice and if my long-time best-friend decided to move from Australia to New Zealand I wouldn't discourage her but generally loneliness isn't a problem and I'm content). There's nothing wrong with me because I prefer the friendship of people I've never met. I've seen their hearts - in the things they write: in emails, on message boards, in their blogs. I'm glad that I am able to reach out to someone on the other side of the world and share something as special and beautiful as friendship.

So, hello, I'm Jules and I'm an introvert and I'm proud of it!

[Quilt made for one of my e-friends. I've never seen her face but I've seen her heart. The words at the top of the quilt read: Hearts that Love are Always in Bloom.]