COVID-19, economic crisis, and sociopolitical upheaval has caused a strain on the world and relationships people have with each other. Years of this has caused more heightened emotions amongst people, and overall mental strain. These factors have made people more aggressive, due to months of quarantine, and fear that has been propagated. Knowing this has greatly affected how I see people and interact with people, due to not knowing people’s disposition until it is too late, or the issues that can arise due to people being affected by recent and ongoing events. In the past year, homicides have increased by 30%, and in 2021, it has been the highest number of homicides in a year in almost a century. These numbers show the increase mental anguish and overall agitation that has become a powder keg for many of people, and these are very unsettling statistics for me.

As someone who loves to meet new people, hear people’s stories and building relationships; I have immediately put that to a halt in these very chaotic times. Learning to be an introvert has been hard, but here are some tips I have learned, and I will share with people struggling with finding the mental space to be introverted and more self-isolated.

TIPS:

1. Find things that truly entertain you: what I mean by truly entertain you, is that find interests that have solely you in mind, not something that someone else has influenced you to liking it. Creating new interests in entertainment, arts, cooking, etc show how you can create your own mental space of interests, and is a great first step in being introverted.

2. Curate your friends list. Just like throwing out old clothing, look at how often you wore the garment, what has that garment done for you, and how useful is it in your wardrobe, look at that with you friends. If there are friends that only see to be there when they have a story to tell, never seem to remember your birthday, or just fill your days with hours of idle talk that truly do nothing to your mental capacity, it is better to part with them. Curating your friends list and contacts make whoever you call a friend that much more important, close, and also a symbiotic relationship. This curating also applies to newly acquired friends as well (which I say precede with caution). Like acquiring new clothes, you must look to see if these new friends fit your current position in life, your lifestyle, and your future.

3. Finding peace in being alone: That sounds quite pessimistic but theres a reason behind that terminology. It is a truth that everyone comes into this world alone, and they will leave this world alone. I advise people to do exercises in spending time alone from everyone, with limited access to your phone to truly feel your emotions and thoughts when being isolated without outside distractions and influence. Doing this is a very introspective way of taking a look in the mirror, and seeing what you would like to improve in yourself.

We are all a work in progress, so this is not a way to dishearten people from creating new relationships or building on current ones, but it is way to look at how this world has changed due to recent events, and these changes have greatly affected people and how we see each other. As someone who has run into these changes negatively, I have seen the true benefits of being an introverted extrovert.