I’m house-sitting today. I have my thumb drive and my watercolor paint and brushes with me. I’ll do something productive, no doubt. But I’m such a hermit. I love my work-cave with all my cluttery things around me. Once, I considered redoing my office along Feng Shui principles (a friend of mine had hers redesigned by a professional and said that she felt refreshed and inspired every time she entered that space), but the first thing that popped up when I started researching Feng Shui was the concept of decluttering. I knew in an instant I couldn’t work that way. I need my little things around me—my action figures, shabti, my Scythian rabbit, my fairy and dragon pictures, my little alien figures and Sheldon bobble-head… We’ll see if I can concentrate without them today. So, while I’m away from my desk, I am going to try to not look at my email or this page too often. I’m a little obsessive that way. While I’m a hermit about my workspace, I love to interact virtually.
My question for you is whether you are like me—a hermit who loves
her online friendships? Or are you an extrovert who has simply found
a way to expand her circle of friends?
P.S. And be sure to check out today’s blog at Hot Highlanders and Wild Warriors to get your free download!
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Whether good or bad, I’m a hermit like you. I’m a bit disorganized and my personal space is cluttery. Not ready to make any changes either (yet)
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More of a hermit, but I like things organized. I have been told over and over that I’m obsessive about keeping things cleaned and in the proper place, but over the years I have relaxed. Try to have a good day 😉
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I am all too easily distracted by the lure of online interaction, as evidenced by my response to this blog email while I’m supposed to be working out the back story for my bad-tempered incubus.
When up against the clock, I work at the kitchen table with my hearing aids out and wifi off, surrounded by uninspiring objects (ketchup bottles and bank statements) so that I can focus. When time is slightly more friendly to me, the wifi goes on and my online friendships get a lot of attention. I’m pretty blind to every aspect of my working environment except for the open door to the internet.
Can I suggest a pattern of allowing yourself to check out something ‘leisurely’ every half hour, so long as that only takes five minutes? That at least gives you an operating rhythm of a period of slavery, followed by a moment of reward and relaxation.
Have fun house-sitting!
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I’m an introverted extrovert. I can be ALL kinds of chatty through my fingertips, but get me in front of people and it’s almost like I have a finite amount of “energy” in me to deal with people – and then I’m done. And when I’m done, I AM DONE. My “IRL” friends are pretty used to me being “on” and then just zoning out for a while (what great friends I have to put up with me LOL!). I think that a lot of that has to do with my struggle with depression, too. Add in the fact that my e-friends are from all different time zones, so they have no firm expectations of my ability to “with it” at any given time, and just the nature of
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Oops.
And just the nature of an online friendship means that there is an element of control to it — I CONTROL the interaction for a time when I have the “energy” for it. Ex: IRL, when you asked the question, I’d have had to answer it right then. Instead, I’ve had a chance to think a bit…
I do have to admit, though, that some times I feel e-friendships can be more intense. Fifteen years ago when I had my twins I fell into a e-friendship with a group of gals that also had, or were having, twins — and it was a relief to know that if something was wrong, I could hop on my computer at any time of the day or night and get some support, or offer props myself. We would all “meet” in the evenings on AIM and chat, laugh, cry, commiserate, talk each other down off the ledge – each and every day. Those women got me through the hardest times of my life – especially since I was suffering through major PPD & didn’t realize it.
If I could be a hermit & stay at my laptop, working on my Snarky Mom Reads blog ( http://www.snarkymomreads.com ) and interacting with authors & fellow book junkies all day long, I would SOOOOOO be there. The freedom to not have to worry about if I remembered to put on mascara this morning, or wonder if I’m going to be judged for my weight/appearance/inability to control my twinagers’ hormonal attitudes… or the fact that I’m sick and haven’t had a voice for 3 days so I couldn’t talk to anyone if I even WANTED to… Yup, I’m a hermit through & through!
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Sometimes it’s good I have to leave home to work, otherwise I’d sit at home all day and never get out! Hermit life is the life for me.
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I am a hermit unless at work. I work event security along with being a professional clown and magician. I like my “stuff” around me. So a bit of introvert and extrovert.
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Not only am I a hermit, but I’m not a social media person. No Facebook, no Twitter.
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Hermit big time… I’d never leave home if I didn’t have to. My cave is my palace. Also cluttered, feng shui would not help (believe me, I’ve tried). Biggest problem is paper. Always trying to get rid of it, even though so much of my life is virtual now. I love interacting with cyber friends… in jammies at 3am works for me (night owl as well). Anyone like to do a writing sprint at 2am? LOL!
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I am a total hermit! All my best friends are on line. Sad but true. However, I tend to the more organized.
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I would have to say on my days off from work I’m a hermit if I don’t have to go anywhere or do anything I will choose not to I will stay in my apartment I will watch TV read my books and stay connected virtually I walked dog but that’s about it
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If I’m home I get wrapped up in the computer, at night it’s books. Some days I blow off my chores just to let me fingers do the wandering. 😆 Although at work or around other people I know well, I’m a chatter mouth. I like to add my two-cents even if no one wants it. 😉
My favorite times are when I can sit & read. Reading is a distraction I sometimes need, always an adventure and escape. It’s kept me sane through a lot of life’s challenges. 🙂
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I’m with you my friend. I’m definitely a hermit. There’s many, many days when I don’t see anyone but my husband and don’t talk to anyone except him and my online friends/authors/acquaintances and that is totally the way I like it.
Only get out when I have to run errands or go to the grocery store. Before I retired, the girls at the bank where I worked use to make fun of me because they were all going shopping or on road trips or whatever. Me? When I went home on Friday afternoon, I didn’t leave my house until time to go back to work on Monday morning. Since I retired at the end of 2012, I’m even more of a recluse. I love my house and my husband and have no need for other company. Every once in a blue moon I will go into town for lunch with a friend but those are few and far between.
We live out in the country on a gravel road so there’s not much traffic. And I consider it a really good day when the phone doesn’t ring or my kids don’t show up wanting me to do something for them. All I have to do is relax, enjoy myself and rread, read, read!! 😆
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I’m a hermit and disorganized besides having my personal space cluttery. Only time I am not home is when I am at work or running errands.
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I’m kind of an extrovert who has simply found
a way to expand her circle of friends whose job frequently makes her live like a hermit. I work 3rd shift at a local facility for developmentally challenged as a direct care staff person.
Mindy 🙂
Birdsooong@comcast.net
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Wow! So many things you all have said ring true for me as well. Are kinky minds the minds of hermits? Do we prefer fantasy in our head to real life adventures. I have plenty of adventures, which you know if you’ve read my blog for a while, but I think there’s that element of selfishness—we want control of how much exposure we allow? Am I right? And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. It’s something I at least need.