once in a blue moon i miss a good water-cooler chat
When I quit my job 5 years ago to strike out on my own, newly-creative path, I was greeted with a lot of skepticism. Some of it was predictable: debate whether a lawyer was capable of making a living as a writer/photographer, speculation as to whether I'd be able to stay away from law after paying all that money for law school, that sort of thing. But there one statement of disbelief that kept coming up that I didn't expect:
"Aren't you an extravert? How are you going to able to manage working at home all by yourself, day in, day out?"
It is true that I am comfortable in large groups of people, and don't have any problem doing public speaking (qualities that are typically associated with extraverts) , but once I've left the party or the stage, I want nothing more than to be left completely alone for a while to recoup, also, I wildly prefer intimate evenings with small groups of friends to huge blow-out affairs (feelings an introvert would relate to). A few years ago, I stumbled across the word "ambivert," and that feels most accurate to describe me, I think.
The upshot, however, is that in 5 years, I've never once missed going to an office. Not once. I love being at home alone. And now that Alex's is back at school, the new 6 hours to myself I have each day feels positively luxurious -- I have all sorts of work plans ahead, and I can't wait to dig in.
Also, sitting in my cozy office with the a cup of tea and the rain pouring outside?
Sheer bliss.
