The Extrovert Manifesto

Applying makeup as a podcast plays in the background, cleaning while a documentary plays in the background, drawing while stand up plays in the background, and all the while I wonder when I’ll hear someone’s voice that isn’t prerecorded. I know I am lucky, I am grateful as I type this propping my laptop half on a pillow, half on my left thigh as my beloved co-worker, muse, and general light of my life nests his one hundred pound furry frame between my legs. His light snoring seems to answer the cricket’s song outside my window, he has known only bliss during what felt like punishment for me. His name is Hooper, he has kept the boat afloat in an era of going nowhere.

Before the lockdown I never would have labeled myself as an extrovert, I fancied myself an ambivert; a person whose personality has a balance of extrovert and introvert features. It felt more accurate as I do deeply enjoy time to myself to think, write, and create. Then the uncertain times persisted making it abundantly clear how much I loved people. Prior to this anytime I spent alone I was thinking, writing, and creating in the name of teaching others things I was passionate about through experiences or videos. I have always been of the camp that owned how fantastic I thought people were and didn’t resonate with writing off a species that might have a few duds in it, we have plenty of studs as well. Without people around me to inspire writing or create events for, the silence became suffocating and I wondered who or how I would be helping in what felt like my uncertain future. 

This persisted. It got worse before it got better.

I am fortunate enough to have a lot of family but that didn’t make reaching out easy and I did’t have much to report outside of missing everyone. I remained silent.

I tried to snap myself out of it using everything I could think of and still the thought of missing other people roared inside me, regardless of how selfish that felt to say in the beginning of the pandemic. It was a weight too heavy for me to carry and recently I asked another business owning friend of mine for a zoom coffee and I finally started to feel a glimmer of who I am. After months spent chasing my tail getting outside of my head was the answer. When the world is normal I have an incredible exposure to other people then add in family and friend commitments and I’m at the advantage of being constantly inspired by my environment.

Living as a nucleus of human interaction I feared with my own health and vigor I would be some horrible patient zero disaster causing all those around me to catch some horrific gym-fluenza, I admit it was not the best use of my imagination. The perpetual motion and caring about others that gives me such joy made it hard to find the lost part of myself. At times I had no clue as to how I could help myself dispel this heavy funk I was holding. Then I turned on a bit of netflix and chilled. Not in the fun way, I needed company and any comedian will suffice as their take on some part of society created for me an illusion someone was sharing my space. That’s how I fed the hope inside me.

Before I put myself back together I had to find the parts of me that felt lost, the part of me that was always grateful to be apart of someone’s day. To make something hard feel fun by merging creativity and exertion while most importantly always being excited to see them. The key to creating the best part of someone else’s day is to be excited to see them, if you have a dog you know what I am talking about. It’s easy to be deeply inspired by animals with their ability to go at a moment’s notice, abundant instincts, fluid movement, and pure hearts. Above all things that animals bring to the world their purity is their greatest gift to us. The ones we have the good fortune to welcome into our home and pamper forever give us the greatest welcoming we could ask for. Our pets deeply miss us when we are gone and openly show us how much when we return. 

When we return to the world how can we welcome our friends again from six feet away?

Six feet away is better than six feet under.

Being a friend is an important honor and as we re-enter the world I have a new greeting I am refining, I’m attempting to put my own twist on a classic. 

Greet humanity as it’s best friend. 

We all love dogs and dogs love us. Let’s wag our way around this mess of scary news stories and focus on all the good that came out of this time apart. I have missed everyone and I would love to hug you but if doing a wave with the enthusiasm my pooch dedicates to wagging his tail applying so much power it takes his haunches with him I am ready to embrace this endeavor the way I once embraced people.