Nature's Personalities

 The whole idea of introverts and extroverts is a fairly new conversation in our culture. When I was a kid, I never thought about which category I fit into. It wasn't until adulthood that I began to notice I was far more comfortable in a small intimate group of one or two than a big crowd. I'd excitedly sign up for an intriguing workshop, only to realize when I made my way through the crowd of attendees that I really didn't like big groups of people. For a long time, I was influenced by our cultural preference for extroverts, and I felt that it was probably a failing to not be one. But now there are many sources of information about both sides of the personality spectrum, and I actually feel fine about being an introvert. It doesn't mean I don't like people. People are really, really important to me. The real defining feature to me is that if I'm with a large socializing group of people, it wears me out. I can do it. I've learned how to function in those settings. But I need to recover afterward by having some alone time. Some of our most famous and admired predecessors were introverts. Neither side is better than the other, and both have their advantages and gifts. 

Once I'd made my peace with being an introvert, it became just another personality trait that I'd learned about myself. And I wasn't surprised when a crowd of people wore me out, or when I didn't jump at the chance to go to a big party. I was in good company, and my personality was OK. Now that I'm living in a cohousing community, I'm surrounded by many other introverts. Statistically, there are more introverts than extroverts who choose cohousing communities for their homes. Maybe it's because they don't have to go far to have their supportive community. It's right outside their door. And you can be alone in your own home or go out and socialize in whatever mix pleases you.

Just lately, I've been wondering if this personality spectrum extends to the whole natural world, animals, birds, bugs, even plants. Surely there must be animals who prefer to have less social lives, who relate to just a few others, who get recharged by just being in the calmness of nature. So I did a little research. And yes, people have done studies on this. Susan Cain, the author of Quiet, found that introverted tendencies are present in a wide variety of animal species. There has even been work to assign different animals to Myers/Briggs personality categories! The corresponding animal to my own designation as an INFP (introvert, intuitive, feeling, perceiving) is a meerkat, which apparently is loyal, peaceful, curious and protective of family. Not bad. Other wild animals that have been labeled as introverts are owls, the sloth, deer, the octopus and wolves. Probably there are more, and like us, in an individual species there is probably quite a spread.

After reading that fruit flies have both introverts and extroverts (!), I started wondering about plants. Are there plants who most like to grow alone or in small groups, who thrive in the outskirts? That seemed maybe a little far-fetched, but I went to the internet again and found something really interesting. There were pages and pages of links to one thing, a T-shirt that had the slogan: "Introverted but willing to discuss plants"!! And that is all I found. I have no knowledge about who created the first T-shirt that said this. But apparently it has taken off like a rocket. Does this mean that there are thousands of gardeners out there, loving their gardens, loving the recharging that they get from being out alone in their gardens, realizing they are introverts, and wanting to connect with others? But only wanting to connect through that safe, comforting subject of plants? Who knows?