You have entered the woods.

Let's talk about what it means to be "in the woods" for a second. Maybe, to you, the woods sound fun. Maybe, growing up, you went camping with your friends and family in the woods. Maybe you lived close to the woods. Or perhaps the woods stimulate your mind. Maybe you focus better or feel more imaginative when you are in a forest.

Well, on this blog, I am using my own application of those words. I really like metaphors. The woods, to me, are a representation of my introverted side (everyone has one, just as everyone has an extroverted side). Forests are rich and full of life, but they are also usually very secluded and quiet. Sometimes, I like the woods. I can be alone with my thoughts to reflect. However, the woods are also a symbol to me of how I feel when I subdue and restrain as many of my extroverted behaviors as possible.

The forest is just too darn quiet.

When I talk about entering the woods, I’m talking about becoming a subdued version of yourself that isn’t true to who you really are.

It's like when introverts talk about pretending to be extroverts, except in reverse! You know how actors sometimes get stuck in character? It's a weird phenomenon, look it up. Sometimes, after behaving like an introvert for too long, you get stuck in that subdued character, because it has become your new way of showing up in the world, even though it's inauthentic. Rather than bringing balance (e.g. adapting to situations needing introverted functions, or accepting that there is both extroversion and introversion in all of us and that both sides are needed) it's swinging into a not-you sort of place.

You start adapting too much to an introverted lifestyle, even to the point of forcing it, because society and culture demands it. You secretly begin to wish you were different--an introvert instead of an extrovert maybe--so that you didn't have all these quirks, like talking too much or being so energetic and outgoing and enthusiastic all the time! After all, according to everyone around you, these things aren't normal and should be corrected or even medicated as soon as possible, right?

No, as a matter of fact, I do not have ADHD or ADD or whatever disability you're trying to diagnose me with. (Introversion used to be viewed as a disorder once, so com'on guys--let's not do the same thing with extroversion now too)

Thus, I call this whole experience entering the woods, or being "in the woods."

I'll close my thoughts with a side note. In several books on personality theory (referring specifically to the Myers-Briggs 16 personalities), they talk about what it's like for each of the types when then are stuck in their inferior functions. It's a little different than being "in the woods," but an interesting similarity to note is that when it happens, extroverts can become uncharacteristically quiet, introverts loud. If you're interested in exploring this topic, a great book to read is "Was That Really Me?: How Everyday Stress Brings Out Our Hidden Personality" by Naomi Quenk.

Tags: AllExtroverts, IntroductionPosts, All Posts