Friday, March 14, 2014

Five Minute Friday: Crowd

With some prompting from my friend Katie, I'm joining Lisa Jo Baker  for Five Minute Friday, my first ever. Basically you write unedited for 5 minutes on the prompt which this week is CROWD. Here we go!

Five Minute Friday

Crowds. Love 'em!

As an oldest child in a family of 4 and growing up on a camp I've been surrounded with crowds my whole life. I'm an extrovert in that I get my energy from being around lots of people. I suffered from "FOMO" before I knew it was a thing. In college if I found myself sitting alone for longer than half an hour I immediately started looking for a group of people to join in with.

And then I moved to Northern Minnesota for a year. Nothing in Northern Minnesota is crowded unless it's the frozen lake on an ice fishing Saturday. It's beautiful and serene but when you can drive for 20 minutes without passing a single car, you're out there.


At first it was hard. Where were the people? How would I survive? How would I ever find energy if I couldn't draw from a group? I was so far out there I didn't even have a library to get new books from. So I started spending more and more time alone. Well, alone with my laptop and seasons of Friends.

I didn't love that "uncrowded" season of my life, but I got through it.

When I found myself living back in a place where I had neighbors, plans and crowds around me again I realized I'd changed.

This extrovert had discovered an introverted side that I never would've guessed existed.

Nowadays I need that balance and I think that's come from my season of quietness but also from maturing and growing up a little. Rather than run to a crowd to fill my time I need to reconnect with myself (and still sometimes with that laptop and seasons of Once Upon A Time). My soul starts to feel crowded if I don't give myself that breathing space and I think that's a good place for me to be in.

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3 comments :

  1. Stopping by from FMF. I'm the opposite (an introvert who is learning the benefit of friendships and "crowds" and finding the balance) but appreciate your thoughtful retrospective words today, and the importance of soul breathing space . . . whether an introvert or extrovert.

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  2. The need for solitude and the need for company are the yin and yang of life. Loved this!

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  3. So so excited you joined us- love what you shared!:)

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