1. I am messy. Messy is not quite the right word for it. I’m a slob. My office (at work) and my apartment are usually fairly tidy, but my bedroom: war zone. Right now you can hardly see the floor. (I’m not joking.) I don’t know how to keep my room clean. Every single time I clean my bedroom, I tell myself, This time I will keep it clean. Never works.
2. I am still learning healthy coping mechanisms for stress. I have traded in stress-induced eating for stress-induced shopping. Better, but not the best.
3. Most indicators signal that I am an extrovert: I love people, I like crowds, I enjoy public speaking (and am pretty good at it too!). But after the people, crowds, and public speaking, I crash hard. I am a total introvert and need a lot of alone time to recharge.
4. Sometimes I am perfectly fine with being single; most times I am not.
5. I am a terribly complicated woman. Right now, I have the most and least self-confidence I’ve ever had. That might not even make sense to most of you. Some of you will get it.
… and that will wrap up Getting Personal with Jackie Lea for this week. Vulnerability. I tell ya.
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JACKIE LEA SOMMERS 
i just don’t see you as an introvert, even though i am very similar in needing my “alone time”, but you are so vivacious and extroverted! I would say you are an extrovert that needs a “time out!” LOL!!! either way I love ya!
The definition of “extrovert” is “someone who gets energy from being around people.” I get DRAINED by being around people– that’s the definition of an introvert. Being shy or outgoing– it’s totally a separate thing!
Messy is tough because I would classify myself as messy, yet there is a method to the madness. So messy to me is a value judgement that has been placed on me. Like you I’m an introvert even if I’m outgoing in certain situations, alone time is important to me. I would say being alone and feeling lonely are two very different things. I can understand loneliness. I think society places a lot of judgments on people who are not in relationships. Once one hits a certain age it’s expected to be married and then have children etc… as if life is that predictable. So a lot of that loneliness can be imposed by society. At the same time, humans are social creatures. If one feels isolated from others, it’s only natural to want to connect with someone and be understood and your life shared with another.