What is the main reason introverts tend to dislike holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s? Large gatherings of people. With all of this hustle and bustle, holidays can seem like extrovert-only affairs. That is why on Jan. 2, we celebrated World Introvert Day. 

According to National Today, World Introvert Day was first proposed in 2011 by German psychologist Felicitas Heyne. Heyne published an article on her blog entitled, “Here’s Why We Need a World Introvert Day,” thereby kicking off the idea of having a day dedicated to the introverts. 

As an ENFP-t personality type, according to the Meyers-Briggs personality type indicator, I am more likely to be extroverted and spontaneous. I would say this is correct, because I do love huge social gatherings and the ability to interact with people. However, I get introverts, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Sometimes, you really do need to just be alone, and instead of society treating extroverts as the norm and introvertedness as an ‘undesirable trait’, we need to instead embrace introverts and recognize their powerful strengths. Introspectiveness, listening skills, and compassion are some of the traits introverts bring to the table, and we need to learn to celebrate them.

Even though January 2 has already passed, we shouldn’t just be celebrating introverts on one day out of the whole year. If you have an introvert in your life, call them up, ask how they’re doing, cancel your plans and just take the time to talk with someone, without putting them in a situation they’re uncomfortable with. It’s time to appreciate the introverts in our lives, and we should all start now.

_{According to neuropsychologist/scientist Noa Herz, “While the higher visibility of extroverts is self-explanatory, it is far from trivial. Not only does it mean introversion is perceived as less common than it really is, but also introverts are less likely to be evenly represented in influential social groups, including in politics.” (Graphic/Uma Hedge)}