I’m an introvert.
Most of you that know me are probably calling BS on that sentence, but it’s true. The outgoing, smiling, talkative Matt that you’ve seen at industry events or around town isn’t my natural state. It’s genuine. But it’s learned.
On the night of July 4th, we had a block party that involved all the neighbors, their kids and plenty of fireworks. It must’ve lasted a good two hours or so. And I spent the whole time sitting alone on our back patio, reading and listening to the loud cracks and bangs all around me.
I call it “turtle mode.”
I needed to be by myself. Get back inside my shell. It happens every so often. In this case, it lasted a couple weeks and came on the heels of about two months of non-stop travel. Between late April and late June, I was in
- Cleveland
- Mountain View, CA
- Philadelphia
- San Francisco
- Seattle
- Portland
- Seattle
- Hawaii
I was gone 28 out of 63 days in that stretch. Too much! (But, wow, every trip on that list was fantastic. Can’t deny that.)
Now I’m home for the next couple months. And “turtle mode” is starting to come to an end. Good timing, too. There’s a local conference happening a week from now that I’ve been at each of the past two years, and I should be able to go this time, too. And I’ll be outgoing, smiling and talkative … just like “normal.”
(Stock image via Shutterstock.com. Used under license.)
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