Introvert...Extrovert...or Ambivert?
Going With The Flow...Socially
While I see myself as a relatively introverted, shy guy, I doubt most people—including my dearest, nearest, and/or queerest—see or think of me that way.
Over the years, I’ve learned to appear a helluva lot more extroverted than I am.
While I’ve always enjoyed being the class clown and a social butterfly, these bursts of extroversion are more like limited-time performances: fun while they last but requiring downtime to recharge afterward.
Some call this the mark of an ambivert—someone who floats between introversion and extroversion depending on the setting, energy levels, and social dynamics.
And while I appreciate learning new jargon and words, I see “ambiversion” as simply adapting to the moment, like shifting between different creative modes. Sometimes I’m the observer. Sometimes I’m the storyteller.
The trick, for me, is recognizing the difference between who I am at my core and the version of me that shows up when the occasion calls for it.
The challenge is managing the energy it takes to switch between those roles. The expectation to always be “on” in certain settings can be exhausting, but I’ve found balance by allowing myself space to retreat when needed.
So, introvert, extrovert, or ambivert? Maybe the answer isn’t so black and white.
Maybe it’s a little more like coloring outside the lines—shifting, blending, and embracing whatever shade fits in the moment. And honestly, I’m good with that.
Keep calm and color on!
Clint 🌈✌️
P.S. After some great social time this week, I’ll be in my cave for a few days, reserving my social batteries for Saturday’s livestream. Hope you can be there!
ON THIS DAY = MARCH 27
BIRTHDAYS
1852 = Jan van Beers = Belgian painter and illustrator
1863 = Henry Royce = English engineer and Rolls-Royce Limited founder
1879 = Edward Steichen = Luxembourger-American painter and photographer
1886 = Ludwig Mies van der Rohe = German-American architect
1897 = Fred Keating = American magician and actor
1899 = Gloria Swanson = American actor
1901 = Carl Barks = American illustrator and screenwriter
1902 = Charles Lang = American cinematographer
1905 = Leroy Carr = American singer-songwriter
1914 = Budd Schulberg = American writer and producer
1914 = Richard Denning = American actor
1921 = Harold Nicholas = American actor and dancer
1922 = Bob Mizer = American photographer and filmmaker 🌈
1924 = Sarah Vaughan = American singer
1925 = Pat Bond = American actor 🌈
1926 = Frank O'Hara = American writer 🌈
1929 = Anne Ramsey = American actor
1931 = David Janssen = American actor and screenwriter
1934 = Arthur Mitchell = American dancer and choreographer 🌈
1942 = Michael York = English actor
1963 = Quentin Tarantino = American filmmaker and actor
1969 = Mariah Carey = American singer-songwriter and actor
1971 = Nathan Fillion = Canadian actor
2000 = Halle Bailey = American singer-songwriter and actor
EVENTS
1912 = First Lady Helen Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador Chinda Sutemi, plant two Yoshino cherry trees on the northern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., the origin of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
1943 = A group of resistance activists—led by gay artist-author Willem Arondeus—dress as German soldiers and bomb the Amsterdam public records office in an effort to hinder the Nazi German effort to identify Dutch Jews and others wanted by the Gestapo.
1952 = Singin' in the Rain premieres at Radio City Music Hall in NYC.
1977 = On Face the Nation, White House press secretary Jody Powell defends charges that the Carter Administration panders to gay activists by saying, “For an organized group who feel they have a grievance that they are not treated fairly, for them to have a right to put that grievance before high officials and say ‘We want redress,’ that to me is what the essence of America is all about. What I feel about gay rights or any other group doesn’t have a thing in the world to do with it.”
1992 = White Men Can't Jump is released in theaters.
1998 = The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the US.
2005 = Grey’s Anatomy premieres on ABC.
Basically, Clint, I think that you have it right. Most modern theorists see a continuum between introversion and extraversion. In this view, ambiverts are neither one nor the other or a simple mix. Jung coined the distinction without seeing a continuum. Usually these factors are measured by self-report so are very likely to lead to the idea of a continuum, because sometimes people need quietude but sometimes strong eceternal stimulation. . I see the two as mental preferences as focus on internal stimuli or external stimuli. I can behave extravertedly but it has a fatigue cost. Noise, action, crowds, exernal excitement are aversive for me.
Same here, Clint - I can be big and boisterous for limited-run performances only. 🩷