In this week’s edition of the Creative Introvert Podcast I’m getting a wee bit more personal than I’m typically comfortable with and talk about feeling lonely as an introvert.
We like to be alone, us introverts.
When we can close the door on the chaos around us, the small talk and the pointlesssocial events…. We can simply be alone with our thoughts, and may be our pets.
That time alone is vital for us to recharge. It’s like an athlete who needs to recover after running a race or whatever athletes do.
But to feel lonely?
That is not what we were going for.
There seems to be a tipping point. A point at which alone time can turn into social isolation which can – feel more like loneliness than comforting rest and recouperation.
Yes – as much as we love our alone time – even introverts need people.
The balancing act – between getting that recharge time alone and not feelingin lonely is a tricky one – and one I’ve had my own share of struggles with.
In this podcast I’m going to share a bit about my personal story with battling loneliness as well as some of the solutions we might reach to (that do us more harm than good) and the ones that actually do work and that you can do today or whenever you’re feeling that fog of loneliness appear.
I discuss:
- My story of discovering that YES introvert Cat can get lonely
- Loneliness denial (common with introverts)
- Solutions we reach for that don’t work
- Overeating to quench the need for human connection
- Solutions that DO work for loneliness (introvert-friendly)
- The mind-body connection
Links mentioned:
- Body scan guided meditation
- Gentle inquiry guided meditation
- Journalling for introverts
- Changing your state to change your feelings
- My dance-around-the-room music choice
- Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Ernest Hemingway on loneliness
- Using an Energy Ledger
- Asana
- The League of Creative Introverts
You can leave a rating and review on iTunes (here’s how to do that) and I will bounce around like a Spring lamb (or sob into my pillow depending on what you write.)