At least that’s what I keep telling myself. It’s something I’ve thought and read a lot about lately, and clearly the best thing for a timid introvert to do is write a blog about it. I always assumed it was something I would grow out of. I would learn to be more outgoing, make small talk with strangers at bus stops, maybe even enjoy social events with people I barely know, but apparently it doesn’t work that way. Once an introvert, always an introvert. I can fake it as long as I’m not too far out of my comfort zone; at work for example, or around people I know very well I probably come across as almost confident. But in almost any other situation I am the wallflower, the shy one who doesn’t know what to say and will almost always say the wrong thing anyway. I once travelled to the US for three weeks on my  own and didn’t have a real conversation the enitre time I was there. Sure I made awkward small talk with hotel staff or salespeople, but I have never had the ability to strike up a conversation with a fellow traveller. And other people seem to do it so easily, that’s what amazes me the most! How do two complete strangers start talking, apparently even enjoying their interaction? I don’t think I’ve ever managed it, not on my own anyway. I’m great at standing next to a confident, extraverted friend while they have an in-depth chat with someone they’ve known for five minutes, but even then I won’t have anything to add except an occasional nod or smile. The whole business is a complete mystery to me. It’s not all bad though, most of the time I’m very happy being an introvert. I don’t need constant company or attention, I’m quite happy in my safe little cocoon doing my own thing, and it helps that I have friends and family that understand that about me. And I quite like my work in a library, probably the most cliched job for an introvert, even if it’s not all shhh-ing and glaring disapprovingly at particularly loud people, although I do actually enjoy that part.