Here's why we need a World Introvert Day



If you have already read my past contributions on the subject introversion, you already know that introverts have a more difficult life in our, by extroverts dominated society. In addition to the increased risk to their physical and psychological health (as for instance disorders like depression, affective disorders, burnout and others) they are also less equipped to deal with stress than extroverts: They handle stress more poorly and generally are less satisfied with their life than extroverts. Consequently introverts are more easily attracted to drugs, addictive substances or prescription drug abuse and apparently also choose suicide in hopeless life situations more frequently than extroverts.
In their profession as well as their interpersonal relationships introverts frequently have to deal with specific problems, too: Just because they don’t act as communicatively and sociably as expected by an extrovertly oriented society, they are often reputed of being timid and aloof and at worse they even appear arrogant or disinterested in others. When the introverts are under-appreciated and misunderstood by those around them, disaccords are just as pre-programmed as are frustrations. In relationships between extroverted and introverted partners, the introvert’s need for withdrawal and privacy (for the extroverted partner difficult to understand) often tends to create considerable tensions among them. Ergo, introverted people face lots of additional stumbling blocks during their everyday life. You can read more about it in our free ebook for introverts.

On the other hand, research and history demonstrate again and again that in many respects the introverts belong to a superbly gifted and very important minority. Among them one finds numerous famous inventors, artists, philosophers, writers and thinkers. Their extraordinary powers of concentration, willingness to reflect and extraordinary creativity combined with their ability to totally retreat within themselves when they are occupied with something, literally predestines them to have a positive effect on the world, to advance progress or give humanity important new perceptions. To name just a few representatives of their species: Albert Einstein, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa, Ingrid Bergman, Audrey Hepburn, Alfred Hitchcock, Bill Gates … one could continue this search forever and would frequently end up with an introverted person who has put his or her mark on the world at one time or the other.

It is high time to sharpen the awareness of a world on behalf of the introverts’ distinctiveness that has increasingly been devoting itself to the cult around extraversion. How about an official “World Introvert Day” on the calendar? After all, these days we have an official gift- and action day for everything important and/or irrelevant: The World Tree Day (on 25 April), The Global Handwashing Day (on 5 May), The International Kissing Day (on 6 July) and The International Stuttering Awareness Day (on 22 October), just to name a few examples – and all of them international, by the way. So, why not introduce a World Introvert Day? The date for it is clear – the best suited - 2 January. Exactly the day when the introverts of the world probably draw a deep breath, the day when the horror-holiday-marathon starting with Christmas and lasting until New Year 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?

Please check out the web site of the World Introvert Day on http://www.introvertday.org and the official Facebook page on http://www.facebook.com/introvertday. Ans don't forget to share the word!