Mrs. Misanthrope

Our beloved cat Riley used to love to receive attention, but there were times when she'd had enough and became, what we call, "overstimulated." Her purring and loving acceptance turned from rolling adoration to biting and kicking with her clawed hindquarters in the blink of an eye. Of late, I've become the incarnation of Riley. I'm overstimulated (but not clawing or biting, yet). For the past few weeks I've been contending with some degree of work pressure, in which anywhere I go, I am bombarded with questions and people pestering me. As a result, I haven't felt much like interacting with people in general if it can be avoided. The difference between introversion and extroversion is that extroverts thrive off of interaction with other people, while introverts are sucked dry by contending with other humans. I'm the true definition of an introvert. This constant interaction with people leaves me weary and longing for quiet evenings spent with my husband and our dog. Even running has seemed unappealing and the idea of joining a group of others to run has been completely unsavory. Unfortunately, the next two weeks will be the same level of stress and contention with others. Hopefully no one will be bloodied or scratched by the end of it.