The Introvert Hangover


Last Thursday I work up in a state. Parched, exhausted, bleary-eyed and with a headache that was much more understandable in my twenties when clubbing and partying was a regular pastime. But... I hadn't been drinking or merrymaking. The night before, I snuggled with my spouse and my dogs, watched Netflix and went to sleep.

Still, it was the morning after of what had been a long ordeal. I'm an introvert. I generally need some downtime after intense, public interactions.

In the previous seven days I had hosted a nationally webcasted Armchair Discussion featuring the Secretary of the Treasury Board plus two ADMs and other important guests, been interviewed on BPTV, and been checked out eight times as a Human Library book at the Innovation Fair.

I loved it, and it wiped me out. Completely.

I appreciate attention as much as the next person. I enjoy interaction with people—I'm still a registered social worker and I host a government-themed podcast in my spare time.  But I'd never experienced so many extraordinary situations in such a small space of time.

I guess I feel compelled to write this because it's the first time that the intensity of public exposure has ever left me with an after-effect that felt like illness.  Like recovery after a mild, self-induced poisoning. Like those awful hangovers from my early twenties.

Introverts, I'm calling you: here in this comfortable digital space where we do some of our best work.  How does post-event recovery feel for you? What helps you to feel like yourself again, beyond just spending some quality time alone?  And what if your life makes it difficult to have alone time?