The Thing About People and Socializing
I generally don't like people.
A lot of people hear that and immediately become defensive, and start calling me a hermit and a recluse and a social moron.
The thing that is generally omitted from the discussion is the fact that the statement that I "generally don't like people" is not a statement that I dislike people. Is actually a statement that most of the time I just simply don't care.
Without getting too long on the psychological blah-blah, I am definitely an introvert, and I recharge my ostensible "batteries" by being alone... not by being with others.
When I look back across my life there are not that many people that I would declare that I have genuinely liked, and whom I would miss if they were not in my life.
For me, the keys to liking somebody lies in the energetic exchange of spending time with them.
When I spend time with the people I genuinely like it never feels like it is a performance; a situation where I have to try to be something that is pleasing to them... as opposed to simply being myself. I suppose that identifies me — in some ways — as being slightly weird in that very few people actually can handle being around my authentic weird self, which loathes small talk and just wants to switch back and forth between the deeper meanings of the universe and the trouble with religions beliefs rather than who was on TV last night and the latest trends in fashion.
I remember many years back when I was part of the dating scene one of the red flags in my world was anybody whom I spent a little time with starting to complain that "it's very difficult for me to be around somebody where I have to look up half the words they use in the dictionary."
Yes, I'm that old. We used dictionaries, not Google.
I recognize that it night make me sound supremely arrogant, but if I have to dumb down my language in order to be in the same room as somebody, then it immediately takes on the atmosphere of an inauthentic performance rather than just simply being myself.
And, just as important, it's also making the other person uncomfortable because they can't be themselves. Doesn't mean I dislike them it just means I don't like them.
I'm also rather weird when it comes to socializing. The people I have genuinely liked have typically understood — and shared the reality — that sometimes I like to hang out for five hours a day every day for two weeks and then I don't want to talk to them for three weeks. And then, when we get back together, we pick off right where we left the last conversation like there was no break at all.
I'm not saying this is a healthy or necessarily a right way to behave, but it is the way that works for me. And I'm okay with the fact that most people just call me out and say that I'm a selfish and weird sort of person. Yes I am, at least to you. But not to the few people I genuinely like to be around.
The preceding somewhat brought on by reflecting too much on the vacuousness of most social media... of which I have had enough!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!
Comments, feedback and other engagement is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!
Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and learn about Hive and make an account!
As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — not posted anywhere else.
2026.10.22 01:07 PDT
1683/2949