On September 20, 2011, Felicia Heyne wrote "Here's why we need a World Introvert Day" and suggested January 2nd, as the ideal date:
Exactly the day when the introverts of the world probably draw a deep breath, the day when the horror-holiday-marathon ... lies behind them, when the annoying relatives have left and no one bothers them with the question: “What are your plans for New Year‘s?” and then acts indignant when you respond “Nothing special , why do you ask?” Could there possibly be a better date for it?
So this year, on January 2nd, you can celebrate World Introvert Day. If you're an introvert yourself or in a related to one -- even by marriage -- you may want to learn more about what introversion is and isn't. Introverts are not necessarily shy and are not necessarily anti-social. They just like time to be alone to recharge and tend to favor getting together one-on-one or in very small groups to big crowds.
There are a number of books on the subject. I reviewed three of them on my blog.All three were written by women who were self-declared introverts happily married to extroverts, and they admit to some conflicts arising from the clash of orientation, but overall they feel the counter-balance works to the advantage of the marriage. The fact that opposites can not only attract but keep work well prompted me to write a post about working out such compromises in Some Like It Quiet.
While there are those who tell you to always adapt to the needs of the other, and introverts, in particular, have been trained to think of themselves as the odd ones who have to act "normal," that is social, keeping up a prolonged pretense increases stress. The ideal solution is not one in which one spouse wins by forcing the other one into his/her preferred mode - but one that allows time for the preference of each.
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