I was quiet, painfully quiet. I had imaginary friends, I was weird.
It can be tough being a quiet kid, I did not understand why I was so quiet and I did not know what to say to people. I would wait for other kids to ask me to play rather than initiating. I was never sure if they liked me; I think that they did. I would marvel at the kids who would boldly ask for things and advocate for themselves, I still do.
My imaginary friends? Yeah, that is a therapy session in itself. I had one friend and we were thick as thieves, we hung out all of the time (what else was she doing). My family thought that it was funny and my siblings encouraged it. Suddenly I had more imaginary friends and came up with all kids of stories, mostly to entertain my family. There is a lot of psychology about imaginary friends, I have not delved much into it but it they say that it is natural and healthy. One would think that with all of the the creativity I had as a child I would be do something creative but I am in accounting. My family still brings up my friends like somehow I reunited with them on Facebook.
I started kindergarten when I was 4 1/2 years old, just making the cut off. I was also tiny so I looked funny getting on the bus and heading to school. Back then kids were allowed to roam around more and I took full advantage of this- early alone time. I would go for walks around the neighborhood and take off into the quiet area of my backyard. One day I decided to go for a bike ride even though I only had one lesson, police were involved and I didn't ride my bike for a year.
I was also weird because I played with the Fisher Price people and my doll house for longer than I should have, honestly I do not know the age I stopped but trust me it was longer than most. I loved the people, much like my imaginary friends, and has all kids of stories for them.
I had a hard time making friends because I was so quiet and did not initiate friendships or invite friends over often. I was, and still am, a loyal friend though. I think that this is true of most introverts, we tend to have a close group of friends.
As I have gotten older and forced to meet and mingle I have gotten out of my shyness but will always be an introvert. One of the best ways that I escaped being shy is my "I don't give a sh!tness". I am more comfortable with my quirks.
