I got to thinking about it last night, and I realized that one of the worst feelings is when you desperately feel like talking to someone– yes, even we extreme introverts have such moments– and yet you can’t think of anything about which to talk.

Let me explain in a little more detail. Generally, if I don’t have anything to say, I’ll just stay quiet and won’t bother trying to make small talk, instead leaving my mind free to ponder whatever it wishes. It’s a pretty common characteristic for those of us classified as INTP personality types. On the other hand, though, when an interesting thought enters my mind, I’ll often spontaneously mutter that thought to myself in the presence of whoever may be near (though the mumble is usually so inaudible that nobody notices it anyway).

But even we extreme introverts feel a little bit extroverted every once in a while. We want to have some sort of social contact, we want to talk to some close friend or acquaintance; sometimes it even gets to the point where we almost need that contact. And that’s absolutely fine, when we have something relatively interesting to discuss. But unlike true extroverts, we’re not the sort of people who will resort to small talk whenever we lack a topic of discussion; such conversation is, for us, rather unfulfilling and not worth the effort.

And thus, in such a situation, we’re faced with the impasse I’ve described– we desperately feel the urge to hold a conversation, but lacking any point about which to talk, it would be useless, at least for us, to do so.

But hey– I guess that’s life…