How to take care of introverts

“I’m an introvert… I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky…” 

~ Audrey Hepburn

I say this often but I’m pretty sure I was a cat in a previous life. If I believed in reincarnation, I’d be purring right now.

You know how there are only two kinds of people in this world: dog people and cat people. And, well, other people too. Not just people who like cats (or dogs) but people who are cats (or dogs).

People who need to be alone often, who are jealous of their space and privacy, who purr unexpectedly or stop purring for no apparent reason (who knows, maybe they just spotted a mouse); who never come when you call them but expect you to answer immediately when they call you. Who cry often, but nobody knows.
On the wiser side of town, they look like they’ve learned to become friends with their solitude.
I could raise my hand here and say “me, me”, but the older I get, the less black & white I see the world, but more like a faded sepia. Sometimes I dance with strangers on the street and others, I’m bothered by my own shadow.

Who sent you, Person in the Mirror? Is this god’s way of spying on me? ‘Cause I’m an atheist today.

(Screenshot Amélie via YouTube)

Overall though, I think there’s a cat in each one of us as much as there’s a dog. Only that in some, the meows are louder than the barks or vice versa.
So, just for the sake of non-violent communication with Self and others, I sometimes have to hand out this little map to my/your introverted heart and hope somebody out there can read maps.

“In an extroverted society, the difference between an introvert and an extrovert is that an introvert is often unconsciously deemed guilty until proven innocent.”

~ Criss Jami

(Via Questionably Late Tumblr)

{Based on Linda Kreger Silverman’s On Introversion.}

An introvert’s kind of life and sort of love: you, me & Amélie.

*Bonus – The Introvert’s Song of the Day.

I’m curious, do you consider yourself more of a cat or a dog? And what do you like or not so much about your cat/dog self?