Going within
4.2.09
That quotation really speaks to me because it describes me uncannily well. I suspect that’s all that I have in common, by the way, with the eminent and prolific author (who earned her master’s from the UW in 1961 and received an honorary doctorate in 1984), but — the recent death of her husband (who received his master’s and PhD here also) aside — I wonder if she’s been having the same experience that I am: becoming more introverted with age.
I’ve been going through a particularly introverted and introspective time (the two seem to go hand in hand for me) over the last several months. I’ve gone into my shell, and I seem to be waiting for something. I don’t know, really, what it is that I’m waiting for, but surely this withdrawal is an integral part of the larger life transition that I’m undergoing. I’m like a cocooned caterpillar that will — if things roll out as they’re expected to — emerge as an empty-nester butterfly in a couple of years.
But will I have any friends left by that point? They won’t have seen me for several years while I’ve been in my introvert’s cocoon!
I’ve been going through a particularly introverted and introspective time (the two seem to go hand in hand for me) over the last several months. I’ve gone into my shell, and I seem to be waiting for something. I don’t know, really, what it is that I’m waiting for, but surely this withdrawal is an integral part of the larger life transition that I’m undergoing. I’m like a cocooned caterpillar that will — if things roll out as they’re expected to — emerge as an empty-nester butterfly in a couple of years.
But will I have any friends left by that point? They won’t have seen me for several years while I’ve been in my introvert’s cocoon!
