Quote of the Day - 2/10/2012

Of social life, I had, and still have, almost none. I have never had a talent for acquaintance, only an enjoyment of intimacy. People who have more than 3 or 4 friends whom they wish to see often, who come and go to dinner parties and so on with a wide circle of acquaintances whose company they enjoy although they do not know them very well, fill me with envious admiration. - Diana Athill in Instead of a Letter: A Memoir

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Are you naturally an introvert or extrovert?

Diana Athill’s words describe someone more on the introvert side - someone who values depth in relationships over numbers of relationships. There may be more natural introverts out there than seems obvious since introverts are often quite intent on what it takes to enable professional success; ‘networking’ is a kind of prescription to apply as needed to make contacts to advance a career. But - always - people retain their natural inclination.

The publicity around the emergence of social media implies that everyone should want lots of connections. A good portion of the population may be OK with that idea for professional acquaintances but their optimum for the number of connections for truly social reasons - the deeper relationships - is quite small.