Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. In the case of introverts, alone time is a good thing. They need it to recharge. Too much alone time, though, is a very, very bad thing.
Too much alone time leaves introverts marooned on an island. Sometimes it’s an island of their own making, and sometimes it’s an island pressed upon them by external circumstances. In either case, they find themselves feeling alienated and lonely. While they treasure their alone time, they equally treasure sharing time with people who are close to them. To find themselves on an island bereft of anyone with whom to share it is to face devolution. The world dims. They have no regard for themselves. They can’t find the energy to build a shelter to keep out the elements.
It’s a dangerous place to be. The time alone becomes a poison. It only magnifies the lack of companionship. It causes the brain to race with fancies it ought not to have. It results in a sense that they are completely useless. They try to rise above such thoughts, but the fight sometimes is too hard. They surrender, and the storm they didn’t protect themselves from batters them to pieces. They awaken in the morning, stiff, bruised purple.
When they see a ship on the horizon, they burn down an entire jungle to capture its attention. They pay no heed to the ship’s ill appearance; they can only think of rescue and of leaving their godforsaken island. They are so desperate to be with people that they make an unwise choice. They clamber aboard the ship. They travel with the crew for a time until they are left, if they are left, with a hard choice: leave the ship and return to isolation or stay and risk their very souls.
In such a dilemma, what is the wise choice? What are the introverts to do? If their consciences are still awake, they choose the former. They dive off the ship, return to their islands, and await rescue from a wiser source. If they can’t make the choice, they face rescue of another sort, the kind that calls for being dashed upon the rocks or sentenced to the gallows.
Image: Catrin Austin (Creative Commons)