This article at Psychology Today takes a look at introverts. After reading, then re-reading it, I’d have to say I pretty much agree with it. I bill myself as the extroverted introvert. Meaning? Well, although my preferred state of being is alone or with my Mishka, I can flip a switch and become Mr. Outgoing Guy - making friends and doing the room.

The article essentially says that there are people, such as myself, who do fine - and actually excel - with a lower need for affiliation. We don’t need to hit the crowded clubs and rub elbows with societies elite. In fact, because we keep to ourselves, we’re actually more creative, and we see things others don’t. Our perspective is different, because we aren’t concentrating on being the life of the party.

Hence, I think that’s one major reason I love photography. I can be in the center of the crowd, but not really be there.

I don’t particularly like crowds. I guess you could say I loathe them. I do well in front of them, I’ll go up and sing karaoke with the rest of them like I did last week - I just don’t like large crowds.
Now, place a camera in my hands, and I’m not really in the crowd anymore. I’m an outsider looking in. Watching everything behind the lens looking for a shot, or something that might become a shot. It takes concentration, and I can’t really pay attention to the drunken college kids next to me, or the old man behind me, or the fat sweaty guy in front of me - nope, I’m just looking for a shot.

Anyway, it was just a random muse, just another mental dump sent over the tubes. As such, it seems to read a little ‘jerky’, and I don’t really care to clean it up. I’ll leave you with my favorite quote from the article:

Previous MRI studies have shown that during social situations, specific areas in the brains of loners experience especially lively blood flow, indicating a sort of overstimulation, which explains why they find parties so wearying. But Guyer’s results suggest that introverts may be more attuned to all sorts of positive experiences as well. This added sensitivity, she speculates, could mean that people who are reserved have an ability to respond quickly to situations—such as coming to your aid in a moment of need—or show unusual empathy to a friend, due to their strong emotional antennae.