The seventh series (can’t we just call it a season?) of Doctor Who premiered last weekend on BBC America. While I watched the older series of Doctor Who when I was younger, I was a little slow in getting on board with the most recent iteration of the show. This past weekend everyone was excited for the series seven premiere but I had barely started series three.
I felt a little left out.
We all feel left out every now and again, whether we’re at a party where we don’t know that many people or sitting at home alone while everyone else seems to be Instagramming their awesome nights away. We all respond differently when we’re left out.
As an introvert I don’t mind being left out. In fact, sometimes I intentionally leave myself out. The challenge for us introverts, though, comes in engaging with others when we would rather be left out. It’s a lot easier for introverts to enjoy an evening at home instead of expending energy, hanging out with friends and tagging them in pictures on Facebook.
I can’t really speak for extroverts since I can’t possibly imagine what it’s like to get energized by spending time with other people.
For all of us, introverts and extroverts, the challenge is always authentically engaging with people. We were created to be in community with others. Isolating ourselves at home or shallowly engaging with hundreds of other people won’t help us experience those authentic relationships. Engaging with others on a deep and honest level, though, will help us find the kind of community for which we were created.
So whether we want to be left out or not, we still need to engage with others and ensure that authentic relationships are a part of our lives.
Unless you intentionally spoil Doctor Who for me.
Are you an extrovert or an introvert? What helps you authentically engage with others?
I have stumble upon your blog upon searching “christian nerd” for the reason that I just can’t find anyone in the world that is just as much nerd as they are christian, so hello there. (I realize that this must be a very old post, but it has Doctor Who in it and can’t be ignored). I am definitely an introvert. I struggle from day to day interacting with people. I guess what gets me through is that I analyze people and what their existence consists of (if that makes any sense whatsoever…). I also, in general, don’t talk to people unless they talk to me first. ^.^