Indie Life: Into the Wilderness!!

Welcome to Indie Life! This is a chance for indie authors to post about being an independent author, find each other, offer support, encouragement, news, helpful hints. We're posting the second Wednesday of every month. To join us, go here.

I have an admission to make. I'm not the most social of people. I know many other writers are in the same boat; a certain amount of introversion is in the job description. Yet our world is constantly moving, beeping, churning around us.

In addition to forms of social interaction faced by previous generations, we're now inundated with constant updates and inane chatter. And being an independent author, or author entrepreneur as some call it, can add to the pressure to appear extroverted and join in the online social heyday at every opportunity. I constantly get the message that retreating to my own mind, the source of my creativity and joy without which I would never be able to write books, is the wrong way to go.

It can be really hard to strike the balance between a social presence -- on the web and in the world -- and getting the time you need to unplug. I've been trying to find the line for several months now, feeling on the edge of burnout, but still pushing myself. I'm the type who will keep on chugging long after I should rest and recharge, because I can see the goals I want to accomplish stacked up ahead of me. That focus on production doesn't prevent my mental and emotional state from eventually going awry if I don't also choose to nurture myself.

Eventually, I feel like running away, straight into the wilderness!! I have lots of wilderness to choose from (good ol' Oregon), starting about twenty minutes from my door. I could be out there, on my own, for months without seeing a soul…Wait. No. I couldn't do that. I have no survival skills.

Still, my fantasies take me that direction rather often. And that means I should go there. At least figuratively. I need to allow time to recharge, and it's funny how hard it is to force myself to take the time. Silly, eh?

How about you? Do you know when it's time to unplug, or do you have to force yourself to make time for you? And do you consider yourself an introvert, or an extrovert?

This post is partly inspired by a TED talk I love, featuring Susan Cain. It's titled The Power of Introverts. Take a few minutes to watch it if this post has resonated with you.


A quote from Susan Cain:
"Solitude matters. For some people, it is the air that they breathe. In fact, we've known for centuries about the transcendent power of solitude. It's only recently that we've begun to forget it. If you look at world religions, you will find seekers  -- Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad -- that go off, by themselves, into the wilderness where they have revelations that they bring back to the community….No wilderness, no revelations."

Thanks for listening, fellow indies. Let me know what you think in the comments, and remember, this is a blog hop! On to the next author!