Introverted Music Therapist Here - Any Others?

One of the most challenging things that I have in my life has nothing to do with being a music therapist, but has LOTS of influence on my life as a music therapist, and that is my label as an introvert. 

NOTE: If you've never missed out on opportunities because "You're just so quiet, we didn't even think about you," or "You just don't know how to have fun," or "You are just so serious," then you are probably not an introvert and won't really get what I'm trying to say, so you may just want to move to another blog post.

I am an introvert.

I am about as introverted as you can get on every single type of scale that measures human interaction and how we engage in society. I have always been this way, and it is just now that we introverts are starting to assert our own strengths and power. This is a wonderful time for me (and probably for most introverts, but we probably will NOT shout it from many mountaintops - we are, after all, introverts) because I am finally being told that the way I am is just the way I am - not something wrong that has to be changed.

In addition to being an introvert, I am also a Highly Sensitive Person. If you haven't heard of us HSP's, I recommend that you check out the writings of Elaine Aron. This trait, in addition to my tendency towards introversion, makes being around large groups of people or around highly stimulating environments difficult for me.

It's kinda nice to have some validation for being perfectly fine the way I am. Mr. Rogers has told me, all my life, that he loves me just the way I am, and it is nice to know that others are starting to do the same thing.

In my music therapy life, I think that most people would be surprised to hear that I am as introverted as I am. That's because I spend my energy on leading music therapy groups and interacting with people in the music therapy world, but I am not very likely to be found sitting in a bar with music therapy colleagues after the work is done. I have probably crawled back to my hotel room, seeking some quiet time before heading back out into the loud, stimulating environment of conference. If I spend time with you outside of a presentation or committee meeting, it is because I find your company to be valuable, so thank you.

All of the things that we are learning about the brain and how we interact with our world are showing us that we are different from one another. We process information in different ways, and we have different levels of neurotransmitters that affect our interactions with our worlds. There is nothing "wrong" or anything that needs to be "fixed" with us. It's the way we are.

This is the viewpoint of many people - those with situations that are diagnosed as "disorders" - many of those things are not "disorders," they are simply a way of interacting with the world. Society, though, hasn't quite caught up with the idea that "different" is not "wrong." Introverts are having a moment right now. The neurodiversity movement is having a moment right now. I hope that we can shift from a focus on "different=bad" to "different from me is just perfectly fine."

It will take time. I know that. Things never go as fast as people within the various movements want them to go. There are clear signs that things are changing, but those changes are small and slow. I hope that people can be patient with one another as we navigate these new ways of thinking and working together and supporting difference as not all that different after all.

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