Being stuck in a house all by yourself is boring … or is it?
Quarantine and lockdown are hard to vibe to. Constantly staring at the same walls, watching the same shows and doing the same thing every day for a month? To some, this sounds like purgatory. For others, this is paradise.
I, of course, am talking about introverts and extroverts. These two types of personalities are different from one another in how they interact with people. Introverts gain their energy from being alone, while extroverts feed off the energy of other people. The extroverts tend to be more social while introverts keep to themselves.
These personalities cope differently when being trapped in a house for a month. No hanging out? Only FaceTime? To an extrovert, this can be a nightmare. A bunch of time to read or watch their favorite shows? This is what an introvert has been waiting for.
Such is the case with Kiele Casillas, who is an introvert according to the Myers-Briggs personality test.
“I’m an introvert in the sense that I like my alone time and I’m most comfortable when I’m dealing with things by myself,” Casillas said in an interview. “I am an incredibly independent person. I’m not shy or unfriendly, I talk to people and have a decent amount of friends, but I find myself needing a lot of time by myself to ‘recharge my social battery,’ if that makes any sense.”
While Casillas revealed she does miss her friends, she explained that she has other ways to remain productive during this period of isolation.
“I miss my friends because I love them, and I do miss seeing other people’s faces every day. I don’t miss seeing everybody, like at school, but at the least I miss my small group of friends,” Casillas said. “I’m still talking to friends. Everyone else, I’m noticing, I only talk to while in school and that’s perfectly fine because I like breaks from people.”
For Casillas, this pandemic seems to have given her an opportunity to relax and do more things she enjoys.
“When I’m alone, I like to keep busy, all of my hobbies are indoors,” said Casillas. “Sometimes I just sit and stay on my phone or computer, I’ll write stories or draw something. It depends.”
While Casillas has been able to sit back and enjoy her lockdown as best as she can, extrovert Chris Pantel is having a harder time.
“The thing that I feel most deprived of is the energy that arises from spending time as a group of friends doing a fun activity,” Pantel said in an interview. “I miss doing fun activities with friends and I miss meeting loads of new people at the most random places in public.”
Nevertheless, Pantel finds ways to keep himself busy. In an interview, he said, “When I’m alone, I enjoy playing, working out, playing video games, or going on a bike ride and exploring nature. Personally, I find loads of pleasure in the activities I do during my alone time, as it’s not often that I’m not surrounded by people.”
While Pantel is bummed out, he seems to be doing what he can to be productive, whether it’s by himself or with friends. While Casillas and Pantel both seem to find pleasure in activities, Casillas does tend to be alone while doing such activities. Pantel, on the other hand, is still productive but longing for that social connection once again.
What about ambiverts? An ambivert is someone who is both introverted and extroverted. They have some qualities of an introvert and some of an extrovert, but these qualities vary from person to person.
Enter Nessa Suzon, an ambivert dealing with quarantine as well.
Suzon seems to miss interaction, like an extrovert. However, she finds convenience in being alone, as an introvert would.
“It is frustrating that I’m not able to interact with my friends and my loved ones directly because of the pandemic,” Suzon shared. “However, despite the unfortunate situation, it is also convenient for me to not be able to put in the effort in speaking to others just to attain trivial information that I need since it’s easier to type rather than physically meet people. I have been less social now because of the pandemic and have been unable to communicate as effectively as I have before,” continued Suzon.
“I mostly call people to talk when I have nothing to do,” Suzon said. “But most of the time, I read and find something to entertain myself with such as games. Sometimes I find texting people requiring a lot of effort that I’d prefer to avoid and utilize the energy to do something for myself.”
Ultimately, whether you miss people or enjoy not having to exert so much energy in conversations, it becomes clear that everyone is doing what they can to get through this time.