Going to party every weekend night, hanging out at a cafe with friends on Friday evening and playing sports at school. Those are how most people portray youngster in US, in fact that is the reverse of how I spent my teenage year with millions other in the world. Reading books, drinking tea and listening to music are more accurate description of how I spent my time. Of course there is no correct or wrong way to both approach, however it seems to me that the society is more accepting to outgoing people rather than what some would say “freak” who loves to spent time by themselves.
Being alone doesn’t necessarily mean lonely, for many people (I) prefer to define it as solitude. Being in solitude is a very peaceful way to live, to rely on oneself and see the external world as it is instead of what is should be according to him/her. The external world we live in is changing rapidly with development of technology, communication media, automation of system, etc. The ever connected world, supported by the internet, has change he way people live, the way my family live, and the way I live. People are supported to live more outward and express themselves through medias and those who don’t often seen as left behind by the society.
There were time, I believe, when hanging out with friends and family are dominated with thoughtful conversation and idea, talking about fundamental values of life and innovative way for enhancement of people’s quality of life. And I believe that such conversations are important in shaping the thoughts of young people and how they see the world. Young people living in war zone tend to grow as an adult who see the world as dangerous place to live, young people living in poverty (about half of world population live in third world countries) will grow as an adult seeing the world lacking of resources. Both condition are not the best situation to grow up and develop a positive mindset toward oneself and the world as general.
As a person who doesn’t have many friends in high school, I observed lots of people around me and truth to be told, there is much to learn from every one of them. The insecurity of teenagers, trying to find acceptance of how they look and interact with each other, the need to have the latest gadget to show superiority, the attraction of beauty and wealth are among many things I find interesting back then. Being an introvert has it’s up and down, in the beginning of my realisation as introvert, most of my thoughts are about how disadvantaged an introvert is living in the current generation.
People today are less respectful to each other and tend to listen those with loud voice, not those with reasonable idea. Just as I tried to trust people, I find reason for me not to. It could be the way they treat other people, the way they talk, or simply due to the fact that they have no plan of the future, which bother me a lot. The external world however, is something beyond our personal control and it would only frustrate us if we try to change the world as we want it. The only change we can do is changing our perception of how the world looks to ourselves.
The internal pre-condition of our mind starts as soon as we were born, the touch and affection we got when we grew up, the situation surrounding and the feedbacks we got from the society shape the way we think today. Unfortunately, it is not easy, but it is possible to change our perception of the world. Changing our perception starts right from where we are today, it starts from ourselves and then we extend it to family, friends, and strangers. Changing our perception may lead us to a more peaceful way of living and be self-reliant instead of surrendering to the world as if we couldn’t decide our own fate.
You know what’s great? Once you start not caring about the external environment and be self-reliant, there’s a stream of liberating thoughts that make us believe that we are capable of doing and being anything we want, if we put enough effort and time on it.
Journeyman 
Great essay of living and accepting a slower pace of life. I was and still can be an extroverted person. However, in retirement, I shun the spotlight seeking solitude with my computer writing and reading.
This is a stark contrast to my previous life as a public official. I know enjoy the
Thanks! How do you find the change impacting yourself? Do you find yourself craving for social interaction after days of solitary living? I’ve always been an introvert all my life, but I can act as a talkative person when the situation arise. I think I may be experiencing the reverse of your journey.
At first I thought I was becoming a bit unusual, however, after meeting other writers, I’m normal. As I age, I don’t like large groups of people, and I’m extremely happy with being alone.
Hi Journeyman,
I just came to know you. I looked up the web for reviews of the Seamaster 300 and found your blog and started to read your Review of it, the ‘About me page’, ‘Why Existentialist Are More Prone to Depression’ and now this post.
I´ll keep reading your posts because you are a seeker of Truth and what you are writing is pretty much in the same direction what I´ve come to know myself so far and beyond that. I would like to give away some of my insights to you, which can be helpful at times when you fall back to a depressed state of mind. You can even turn to me if you want any input out of my mind, because I know what one is going through when experiencing Truth.
The trust you are talking about seems to me not to be real Trust, but some kind of relying on someone. You are only able to (really) Trust people when you are not dependent on them. As soon as you rely on someone you have automatically subconcious expectations of how they need to be or what they have to do to fulfill your needs -> Therefore you trust them that they continue doing exactly that. This starts the roller coaster of emotions, bad feelings, disappointed expectations and bad thoughts resulting from fear that they won´t meet your requirements in the future – And where the fuck is this trust?! 😀
In short you still have to realize what Trust is and not what the society tells us what we have to believe what trust is. Real Trust is when you go from the shop with your bag of groceries to your car without having to think about the bag if it will hold. No dependency and no thoughts. That is where real Trust is – unspoken, unfelt, imperturbable. It exists before any kind of thought.
Introvert; This is a label that society puts on you which results from a society set standard of what “normal” is. You are seen from the societies “normal” stand point as an introvert. It has a negative connotation, because everything out of the ordinary is either to much or to less. But from the universal standpoint it just is, like you already came to know “neither good nor bad”.
Keep on the path you are already on. It leads to more realizations in the future and ultimately to a life of true happiness without seeking anymore but just finding something new and interesting 🙂
And about that:
“Without any offence or arrogance to anyone, I truly think it is better for people to do their routine everyday and enjoying the time they have with people they care about rather than thinking about philosophical question that leads nowhere, like what an existentialist does almost everyday.”
You will proof that wrong in the future by your Self 🙂
Wow, thank you for making the time to comment. I really like your analogy about trust. Many things have change since wrote this post, I might re-read it again and your comment to think it thoroughly one of these days.
You´re welcome. I know about these changes that alter the perspective on life. Follow your heart, it knows the direction 🙂