"The Quiet Girl"

That is probably the most boring title of a blog I have ever written, but I did it on purpose.

When someone reads, "The Quiet Girl," they get bored. It's boring. I did this because perhaps quiet girls are seen as boring by some outsiders, particularly loud people.
Was that offensive that I called you a "loud" person?
I thought that's what we did now-we tell people who they are based off of how many words that they speak.
No?

Oh.

I wanted to enlighten the public on the freak shows of the quiet girls.
The introverts.

First and foremost, my mind is loud.
It seems contradictory that I may not speak often or loudly, but yet my mind is extremely engaged.
Sometimes, an introvert's mind is too engaged. We are constantly making observations, evaluating and dissecting the world around us. How can someone talk when their mind is so busy?

Our minds do much more work than our mouths. To me, that's a positive.

Next slide please!

Quiet individuals make excellent listening buddies. We are often the sounding board for our friends, but also strangers. I joke often with my husband that I must have a flashing sign on my back reading, "Please tell me all of your life troubles!"

I joke about it, but I really enjoy it. I can't count the number of times I have been sitting in a waiting room, minding my own business, when a woman decides I look like someone trustworthy and silent enough to entrust their stories with.
I once held a woman in a tattoo parlor, sobbing that her husband just left her. True story.
What a privilege it is that my presence screams louder than any words that I could say!
What a privilege it is that strangers feel at ease enough around my "quietness" that they can pour out their hurts because they know "girls like her don't talk."

Que slide change.

I'm sure you've heard this before, but it is true that confidence is silent and insecurities are loud.
Want to know who the most insecure person in the room is? The one making the most noise.

I'm not insecure because I'm quiet.
I'm quiet because I'm confident.
I feel no need to fill the room with noise because I can be comfortable in my own silence.

We live in a world that is constantly moving, bustling, hustling. A world constantly filled with beeps, buzzes, rings and racket. We live in a world that never allows us to just be still, to appreciate a quiet room with only the company of ourselves, to enjoy a meal without checking our emails. We live in a world where when we do find ourselves forced to be alone, we must fill the hole with letting the world know exactly what we are doing, so that we don't feel so alone with ourselves. We live in a world where we feel the need to be validated by a click of a button on our life update or a photograph.
When silent hits, it makes us uncomfortable.

Take some time to be alone and to be silent. It might do you some good.

So many people who call us quiet don't truly want to hear our thoughts, ideas or anything really, they just want noise, anything to fill the silence that they cannot appreciate or understand.

Next slide, please.

When a quiet girl wants to communicate something, she does. She doesn't just communicate it, or say something to just say it, she communicates effectively and purposefully. She says exactly what she means to say and when she means to say it. Her words are developed and thought-provoking.

Have mercy on our souls that we only speak when we actually have something worth saying.

I don't think its a far reach to say that we have enough blubbering baboons around to fill the silence, we certainly don't need more of them.

I have no intention of "recovering" from my quiet nature. It's not a disease, it's a characteristic I wear with pride.
My quietness is actually a strength. Many people do not possess a quiet, strong presence. They can't. They have to be loud. They have to fill the silence in a room. Oftentimes, they are the ones intimidated by the strong silence of you, "the quiet girl." You actually have mystery to you. Intrigue.

Wallflower? Oh no, dear.

While the rest of the world is busy filling the air with meaningless small talk about the weather, my mind will be spinning, working, changing the world.