The Late New Year Post | This Introvert’s Reflections, Plans, and Hope
Although it may be a few weeks too late, let me just say it.
Happy New Year everyone!
In my own quiet way, I’m so excited about 2013 for various reasons.
First, the Mayans were wrong and the world didn’t end.
Second, over the past few weeks, I’ve renewed my love for blogging, writing, and connecting with and helping more people through this blog.
Third, and most important of all, I’m no longer afraid.
Let me explain.
As shameful it is to admit, I wasn’t as dedicated as I should have been to helping more people, especially introverts, through this blog.
I’ve always had this fear of saying (or blogging) the wrong thing and people calling me out as a fraud. After all, I’m just this introvert girl who’s just like you, still trying to figure it all out in this noisy world and putting into words the thoughts and questions in my head.
But with a lot of thinking and reflecting (something I’ve gotten pretty good at) during the past several weeks and with the support of many online friends and my family, I let it go. I allowed myself to face the things I was most afraid of and to get to know myself a little better.
It wasn’t easy. But nothing worth it ever is, right?
Cliché, I know. But you get the point.
I guess all of us at one time or another experience insecurities and failures. And you know how introspective we introverts can get. I became too caught up in thinking about my shortcomings that I began to lose sight of my true purpose and passion, helping fellow introverts in my own little way and writing, respectively.
Carol Tice of Make a Living Writing was kind enough to answer an email I sent regarding one of my concerns some time ago. The awesome part it, she did it through a blog post so I wasn’t the only one who benefited from her wisdom.
You can read the post here.
This, along with other kinds of support I received (which amazingly all came at almost the same time, but more on that on future posts), is helping me get over my fear and insecurities.
And that’s good news for this little blog.
Plans are in place. I spent a day furiously planning and making lists in WorkFlowy [ref link] about the changes I’ll be making not just to this blog but to my own freelance writer site. I even talked to a web designer friend (hint, hint) about a few things.
But I’m going to need your help where it matters the most.
You come here to find out more about introversion and all it’s ups and downs, so I want to give you what you need.
It’ll only take a few minutes of your time to answer this short survey about the future content of The Not-So-Crazy Introvert.
Please tell me what you want to see in this blog and I will listen.
Lessons well-learned
All of this made me think of what can happen if we just give ourselves more time to self-experts. There are times when we think we know ourselves well, but we just end getting surprised, sometimes unpleasantly so.
So give yourself time to know yourself better. This will help you
- ask the right questions
- do what you are most passionate about
- turn to the right people for help
- plan a course of action and act on it
It’s a process and I still may not know myself that well, but I’d like to think that self-reflection is something which most introverts can teach the rest of the world. Quiet down a bit and reflect.
I’m hopeful not just for myself but for everyone. May we all find something to be passionate about this year and the next years to come.
If there are things that the survey doesn’t cover or thoughts you want to share, feel free to comment below.
