The other day I came across a profile in a dating app that wasn’t terrible. 😛

The man had a short but poignant description in which he mentioned a term which stirred my grey matter.

This is what he said (paraphrased):

I’ve recently evolved into an ambivert from an introvert.

50+ man on a dating app

We all know what introverts and extroverts are, but do you know what an ambivert is?

An ambivert has a balance of both introverted and extroverted features. He or she hovers in the center of both introversion and extroversion, leaning this way or that pending social circumstances. He is either in introverted or extroverted mode.

I googled this and discovered there are also omniverts. An omnivert appears to have both introvert and extrovert features simultaneously, isn’t leaning one way or the other. He is both at the same time and chooses which one he wants to be according to circumstances.

I know, it sounds rather complicated.

But it makes you think, doesn’t it.

For me, a self-proclaimed introvert, what struck me about that man’s statement was how true it rings to me personally.

He is local to me (Toronto area) which means he was as subjected to lengthy lockdowns and restrictions as I have for the past two years. And, from what he said, he’d been without romance for a number of years prior to his separation.

He would like to experience a social life now that might include some romance, some intimacy… The usual thing.

But, as an introvert during a pandemic in a city on the verge of tightening restrictions once again, he had to push aside his introversion and move toward a degree of extroversion. Hence the ambivert description.

Trust me, putting yourself out there on a dating app is pushing plenty of comfort zone boundaries for the hardcore introverts out there. Male or female…

I have some more thoughts. (Surprise!) 😂

Allow me to hurl those out your way. 😱

Before the mess that is this pandemic today, people took their freedom to come and go for granted (here in Toronto). People in many parts of the world still do, but here it isn’t as easy as it was before to just head out for an impromptu social encounter.

Point is, given how much we’ve all been through with all these lengthy restrictions, is it any wonder that some of us are ready to throw the so-called introverted features out the window and merge into a more extroverted lifestyle?

The man who is now an ambivert (or desires to be one) has had enough and is willing to push beyond his introverted comfort zone to explore something new, something that takes him out among people and experiences. He’s not ready to be a full-fledged extrovert, but he’s willing to be extroverted enough to get out of the house (and his own head).

I can understand this all too well.

Can it be possible though, now that they’re all up in arms about yet another mutated variant descending on us? It won’t be the last, I suspect…

I have no answers. But I’m also not looking forward to another long and dark winter without much socializing in public places… Just to head out to a restaurant these days is this whole production.

Sigh.

Meanwhile, I write and cook and design jewelry and schlep kids to rinks and try to keep myself calm and stable in the name of this new normal.

Sigh again.

Anyway, I must get my introverted butt in gear here and head into the city because a child requires schlepping to a rink tonight while the other parent is invigilating an exam for his flight students.

See you in the comments.