Introverts unite – separately!” says a meme.
LIKE many families, my four grown children and I had a grand time dressing up, eating a few choice dishes, watching fireworks displays, and taking pictures as we welcomed 2026. The exiting year was challenging and we were happy to cross over into the new one. And then, in the morning, we had a New Year’s Day brunch at our favorite restaurant nearby.
But my companions dispersed afterward: the eldest went with her boyfriend on some errands for the apartment they shared. The second went to the coffee shop he had opened last year with his girlfriend; the cafe is in Cainta, Rizal, almost eight kilometers from where we were. The third went to attend a reunion with the relatives of her boyfriend. Only the youngest stayed home – that is, before he learned that his girlfriend had had a pet mishap, so he rushed to be with her.
That was how I came to be alone for most of Jan. 1. I straightened up the house, which was not quite itself after the frenzied holiday preparations. I played my Spotify playlist on a speaker, relaxed on my recliner, read a book, watched a movie, and heated a very late lunch for one (it was Leftovers Day). I worked some more on a personal writing project. I gazed out the window at dusk. I prayed that my loved ones were safe and happy where they were.
I missed having the unit to myself. It was neat, clean, and quiet. I could hear myself think. With everyone coming and going during the holiday season, my routines were disrupted. Alone, finally, on New Year’s Day, I felt recharged — like I had reached a state of equilibrium. I reflected on what happened in 2025 and wondered how 2026 and beyond would take shape for me and my family. It was not just quiet; it was peaceful.
I’ve often felt awkward around groups because of my tendency to revel in solitude, but on New Year’s Day, I felt happy to be how I am. I guess empty nest is kinder to introverts.
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“Turn up the Quiet” is the title of a Diana Krall album released in 2011. It is a great set of songs, but the phrase is also a great way to express what I believe resides in the hearts of introverts. I wrote this piece on Jan. 2, which according to social media is World Introvert Day.
I already wrote about introversion, in this same space, almost 12 years ago. I dedicated that piece to “all the ‘quiet’ people out there who often find themselves urged to ‘loosen up,’ ‘speak up’ or ‘come out of (their) shell,” or those described as shy, withdrawn, reserved, anti-social, or too-serious. I wrote it after reading the 2012 book “Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking” by Susain Cain. At that time, people were just beginning to be aware of and appreciate introversion.
Introverts have always been sidelined, Cain says. People flock to the extrovert, the life of the party. Larger-than-life personalities are always perceived as superior in what Cain calls a culture of personality, which lords it over a culture of character.
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There is no official pronouncement by any official organization on the designation of Jan. 2 as World Introvert Day, but some accounts credit the German psychologist and author Felicitas Heyne as the one behind the concept for the occasion, which started in 2011. Introverts, she says in a Q&A for the website introvert.day, said this day was to make introverts feel recognized and understood in a predominantly extroverted world. While she says she is an extrovert, her husband is an introvert, making the topic important to her,
This is not to pit one against the other, of course. This is not to say introverts are either deep or boring, and that extroverts are exciting or shallow. Cain, herself an introvert, warns us against thinking in binaries. Introversion moves along a continuum.
The point is to make introverts feel less awkward or wish that they were wired a different way. “Quiet” does not mean “unseen,” and that getting talked over does not mean that they have nothing important to say. On the other hand, much of the good in the world is a product of introverts’ work and passion.
The shift in thinking has been gradual. Here and there, people still regard introversion as some form of liability. But people are varied, with their own sets of strengths and limitations. It is always good to aspire to a state where we know, love, and celebrate ourselves for who we are, just as we also know, love, and celebrate the people around us for who they are.
