Wilfully exploring my own social inadequacies

I’m an introvert and I make no appologies for that.  I find dealing with other people tiring and my true solace comes in time alone or with a small number of close friends or family.  I enjoy quiet and relaxed environments with music, not large groups or parties.  This has it’s positives and negatives.  It means that I don’t at all mind the office part of my profession – I like sitting quietly reading, studying, writing, and listening to music – but it also means that the whole “visiting people” thing does not come naturally to me.  Meeting new people for me is generally an exhausting ordeal.  It does not come naturally, nor comfortably.  I may not be diagnosed with any social disorder – although JPod has made me believe I may actually be a high functioning autistic – but I am somewhat socially awkward.  I find it quite difficult to make friends with new people because I do not like small talk and I don’t really know what to do otherwise.  It’s something that I’ve tried to work at but the general awkwardness and discomfort of the situations drives me away unless I absolutely force myself into them.

To those of you who are already close friends of mine, you might find some of this hard to believe because when I’m with friends and people I’m comfortable with I’m actually a fairly social animal.  I like to talk, discuss, tell stories and bad jokes.  I sometimes feel a little like I have two natures in one person, but not in a sacreligious way.  I am socially awkward and find it difficult to make friends when I’m placed in new situations or places, but when I’m with those I know I am a very socially comfortable being.  The real difficulty comes in that a good chunk of my profession has to do with being social with people I don’t really know well at all.  The other part of the difficulty comes in that I am in a new place with new people and have been for almost two years now and I have yet to figure out how to make friends.  I have many good friends in many places, but none within 2-3 of where I am now and will likely be for the forseeable future.

So tonight, I’m mining the depths of my own social inadequacies and I’m not coming up with many solutions.  I’m hoping that maybe you, my current friends who know me and aren’t as socially handicapped as I, can help me figure out how to funciton in my newish environment.  Obviously I have made friends before – or you wouldn’t be reading this – but I’m not sure how I lucked into those relationships.  Any suggestions friends?  What things have I done in the past to deserve you as friends that I have somehow not realized how to replicate?  I’m not alone, I have my wife here who’s my best friend and thankfully far more socially adept than I, but it would be nice to be able to move beyond that too.  So to my current friends, know that you are loved and missed and I’m not trying to replace you nor could I replace you, but if you could give me a clue as to how I should proceed down this road of life I’d appreciate it.  If you think this sounds vaguely familiar, it probably does because it’s not the first time I’ve written about this, it just so happens my own social inadequacies confronted me again tonight.  Don’t worry, I’m not depressed or self loathing, I’m just taking an honest look at myself and wondering if there’s something I need to change.

He’s Here!

I realize that the last post was a little cryptic – it was the best I could do at 5:30am with three hours sleep – so this one I hope is a little straight forward.  My baby boy, Payton Owen Benjamin Kramer, arrived to life with the rest of us humans on Friday, November 23, 2007 at 10:35pm.  Jenn and I have been living at the hospital in Moose Jaw for the past 6 days now, and will continue to live there until Tuesday, when Payton will be discharged.  There were a few complications with both Jenn and Payton’s health during the delivery so we are really thankful that both are doing well now.  Jenn had a really bad reaction to the epideral she had as pain medication, and Payton was born with a “Group B Strep” infection so he has been on antibiotics for the past 6 days and has 4 more days to go until his cycle is done.  The first few days were pretty scarry and we weren’t sure that he was going to make it, but all the doctors are confident that both he and Jenn will make a full recovery and our little family should finally be able to come home on Tuesday.  I’m only home here for a couple hours to make sure the house is ready for our baby to come home to so I’m off back to Moose Jaw now.  Keep praying for our little boys health and Jenn’s recovery and you can find pictures if you click here.