On Saturday, I planned to film my kickstarter video. With my filmographer, we laid a tight schedule of visiting ice cream shops, eating ice cream, making ice cream and hosting an ice cream social at my place. For more than 5 hours, I was the center of attention—the focus of the video camera.

I dragged out my rare extroverted side—to talk to owners and ask for more information. I calmed down my friends who didn’t know how to get to places. I kept in touch with people who were coming to the ice cream social via text—all seeming to provide level-headed responses. At my own event back at my place, I individually asked each person what flavors they wanted and prepared a personal cone (or bowl). As host, I constantly checked on people—were they ok?. Then with people I only met recently—the filmographer and other crew…I was trying to be myself…just be.

At the end of the day, I was exhausted. Not because I was running about or standing for 3 hours. I wanted to quietly say nothing at all and have someone tell me their stories…and I could listen silently. I dragged myself out dinner with the remaining crew and friends—engaging in conversation initially but happy when a natural extrovert took over and made the table talk fun.

Later, I opted to watch a movie that I had watched previously. My favorite scenes from Batman—something that required eyes on the screen. And it was me, an introvert here in my own skin.