Don't Understand Introverts? Look At This

As an introvert, I’m constantly defending my love of (OK, need for) quality alone time to all of my extroverted friends. Between protesting that a Saturday night at home watching Netflix so isn’t lame and explaining why I Irish-exited from so-and-so's party the other night, I kind of wish there was some sort of "introvert infographic" I could just send them instead (alone, from the comfort of my bed obviously). This is why artist/cartoonist/writer/fellow introvert Gemma Correll is my favorite person right now. Posted on Laughing Squid, her illustration, “A Map to the Introvert’s Heart,” manages to sum up a large chunk of what's going on in my introverted brain (or should I say, heart).

Take a look:

Pretty accurate, amiright introverts?

Seeing as introverts gain energy from being alone — whereas extroverts absorb it from other people — Correlll's illustration does a pretty fantastic job of capturing that "love of alone time" most introverts feel. However, as alone as introverts love to be, Medical Daily explains that most people fall in the spectrum between the two — which is why if I could personalize Carroll's illustration, I would probably add a few toll roads and drawbridges to various social circles and events (and some sort of alcohol river which empties into the "Selective Extrovert Gulf").

Funny enough, Correll isn't the first person to literally illustrate how an introvert thinks. Last year, The Meta Picture posted a infographic by Schroeder Jones which (rather aggressively) explains the differences between extroverts and introverts. There's also a pretty great one one over at Introvert Spring which decodes an introvert's facial expressions. But, if you're partial to Correll's, I suggest you check out the rest of her work. Her piece, "The Archaeology of a Women's Purse," is as, if not more spot on, than "A Map to The Introvert's Heart."

Image: Gemma Correll