A Little Reflection

March 2, 2022 I am always amazed at the differences between the ways we perceive ourselves and the way others perceive us. I grew up terrifically shy--terrified to talk to new people and wildly uncomfortable with small talk. I thought it wasn't possible that someone might be interested in what I had to say. I'm not sure why; in isolation, when I contemplate who I am I think I'm a relatively funny person who has good insights and who is at least moderately intelligent and informed. But when put in a room with other people who don't know me, I suddenly doubt all of that and think everyone else in the room has far more to say and to think than I do. I still see myself as that shy kid in some ways. That's one of the primary ways I describe myself. And yet, almost everyone I know laughs when I say this. Yes, I am much more social and confident in a lot of settings, but I do default to those feelings when I am in a new situation. But it appears my outward appearance doesn't match how I feel inside. People don't perceive me to be introverted at all. (In fact, I have discovered later in life that I am really more of an ambivert--a term I had no idea existed when I was younger, but which really does seem an apt description of who I am now.) I wonder if there are other characteristics I identify with that people perceive much differently in me.