?Our (summer camp) counselor gathered us all together and she taught us a cheer that we would be doing everyday?to instill camp spirit?R-O-W-D-I-E, that?s the way we spell rowdie, rowdie, let?s get rowdie. I couldn?t figure out for the life of me why we were supposed to be so rowdie. Or why we had to spell this word incorrectly.? ?Susan Cain
?Out there things can happen, and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.?
?And when things start to happen, don’t worry, don?t stew. Just go right along, you?ll start happening too!?
?I will not eat them in a house, I will not eat them with a mouse.?
?How did it get so late so soon? It?s night before it?s afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon??
Can you imagine childhood?or adulthood?without these words? Then you can?t imagine a world without Dr. Seuss. When I was 22, I left a job at a college to embark on what had been a dream of mine, working at a newspaper.
My coworkers presented me with a copy of ?Oh The Places You?ll Go? by Dr. Seuss, with the entire front and back end sheets covered in signatures and well wishes from every nearly department on campus. I have read his books endlessly to my kids from Day 1. And still as an adult, they work well as affirmations.
Dr. Seuss wrote his stories alone in a secluded bell tower in his house. He never wanted to meet the kids he wrote for. Susan Cain, author of a book called ?Quiet,? who?s on a mission to level the playing field between introverts and extroverts, said Seuss was scared to meet them because he was afraid they would expect him to be a jolly Santa-like figure and he would disappoint them with his reserved persona.
He is only one example of introverts who were probably misinterpreted as the opposite and made a huge impact anyway. Sometimes, especially today, that?s not easy to do. Extroversion is encouraged anywhere you go. It?s expected and rewarded. But that leaves nearly half of the population?where?
A lot of times it leaves them stuck, looking for a back door to slip out of, a quiet corner to breathe in or at the very least, someone who senses it without judgment and gives them some space.
I know them when I see them because I am one. And it?s taken a long time for me to realize that one, it?s OK, and two, it might be a good thing.
The stigma is lifting, but still can be seen as a defect or underdevelopment. The ?How to Win Friends and Influence People? era took care of that. The goal of big business was to be as charismatic and as expressive as possible.
?Fake it ?til you make it? and related bumper sticker quotes ruled. And it?s the same socially. We could all attempt to fake it, but why should we have to? Why would we want to?
Maybe Step 1 would be to define introverts and extroverts. It?s not about being shy or unsocial or both. It?s about recharging. Extroverts need people and activity to charge up. Introverts need solitude and downtime. Fundamental differences.
I know and love extroverts, but I know that at our cores, we are wired differently (to complement each other?). And so?as with any differences?it comes down to acceptance and understanding about what we all need and what makes us tick.
There will always be a debate on how to design offices to accommodate creativity (which sometimes demands solitude) and teamwork equally, how to layout school classrooms to encourage independent and group work equally, how to organize extra curricular activities and social functions.
And that?s great?let the planning continue. But when half the population disagrees, politely declines, or slips out early, let that go too.
Dr. Seuss got the value of both sides. He created in solitude, then presented through publishing. And thank goodness he did because his words are genius and can?t be denied?.
?You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.?
