I did reading this year on introverts, trying to understand this (my) personality. Susan Cain’s book was a gift. It’s called Quiet: The Power of Introverts In a World That Can’t Stop Talking. In one example, she spoke of studies that show the neurological differences in an introvert’s brain. Introverts are more sensitive to external stimuli than extroverts are, causing them to shrink in loud social situations so that their brains do not crash under all the data. Although that’s not the full picture on the introvert extrovert divide, this simple observation helped me understand key differences in our behavior. Introverts make up a third to a half of the U.S. population. America is an extroverted culture, making it harder for introverts to find their place and their voice. Asia, by contrast, has more introverted cultures. On page after page Susan Cain emphasizes the quiet power of an introverted personality.
Adam McHugh’s book Introverts in the Church was also useful. He writes here of the gift introverts bring to church life:
In an increasingly fragmented, fast-paced, chatter-filled world, I consider the greatest gift introverts bring to the world and the church to be a longing for depth. Spiritually mature introverts offer an alternative to our contemporary lifestyle, one that is thoughtful, imaginative and slower. For introverts, the quality of our Christian lives is predicated on the quality of our inner lives. Introverts who flourish spiritually have descended deep into our own souls and deep into the heart of God.
Note how he uses a qualifying phrase, the ‘spiritually mature’ introvert. Having a quiet personality is not in itself spiritual; you still must do the work of descending into God.
I commend these books to you.
…that was interesting..and with some good sounding book leads,thanks Chris
Susan Cain’s book is the better of the two for a general reader.
…OK,i just notices the new picture..if i could suggest that you have someone take the same shot but with you standing at a distance where the path disappers around the corner,i think that would be pretty cool…
As cool as that would be (and it WOULD be cool) we need to follow OUR paths, to know OUR obsacles. My WHAT CATS CAN TEACH US calendar for today says “Don’t think you’re on the right road just because it’s a well beaten path”. Sometimes that begins with an image. We know that Chris is already on the path – he’s on the other side of the camera. He shares what he has seen, allowing us to draw our own conclusions. In that way, he’s already in the picture. Also, paths have at least three (ahead, behind, and off) directions: we have to wonder if we would like something that he passed, and didn’t photograph. The view from the tresstle bridge East of the sludge-pit might be nice…. But that would be my view, not Chris’.
…those cats are D-e-e-e-e-p
I did find my path this year. Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn’t really thought about it in that way. It’s also significant that I turned 49 this year. To the ancient Romans the years in your life that are divisible by seven are life changing and life turning years. We still have remnants of that today in 21 being in some places the age of full adulthood.
The age 49 is doubly special because it is seven times seven. I am usually not much given to numerological thinking like this. But still. Here I am at 49 and it’s like I am a different person now. I can’t tell you the number of times someone who hasn’t seen me in a while has said they didn’t even recognize me because my physical appearance has changed so much.
Here’s to new paths for all of us in the new year.