Hiding out

I am just barely an extrovert.  My temperament tends to balance right on the fence separating introversion from extroversion and even though I tip toward the outgoing, it's not by much.

That can mean that whatever I'm doing--whether I'm with people or not--I'm happy.  Of course, it can also mean the opposite--that whatever I'm doing, I'm not happy, wishing I were alone when I'm with people or looking for someone to call when I'm alone.  Fortunately, the former is more often true.  What is even more true is that I need a good balance of both and that I don't enjoy long, uninterrupted periods of either one by itself.

So, on my second trip to Houston this week, I showed up for a large gathering, a social lunch, a working group, and a face-to-face coaching session.  Tomorrow, I'll go to a big party to schmooze with people I don't know.  But today, at exactly 3:00 p.m., I showed up at my previously reserved hotel room and locked myself in.

Here is 2 briefcases worth of work spread out on the bed:

And here is my comfy chair with my laptop open and ready to work:

There's also a desk with papers spread all over it, a small refrigerator with a cold Coke in it, and a really hot bath waiting for me to finish with the work.  In the morning, I'll sleep til I wake up, go down and eat breakfast and run on the treadmill, and come back up and see how much more I can get done, just to have a chance at catching up with my life.  I can't even tell you how happy this makes me.

I love the chance to go into a cave like this precisely because I live most of my life with my friends and my family and my clients and all the people I care about--and I wouldn't have it any other way.  And, truthfully, it will be hard to give up this hotel room at noon tomorrow when I have to check out whether I like it or not.  That's okay, though.  I have a party to go to!