When Mr. PoP and I started Planting Our Pennies a few months ago, we talked about what we wanted to write about and came up with: Money, Happiness, and Kittens. (Hence the subtitle of our blog!)
And while we’ve gone on at length about some of the money issues that we’ve encountered in our relationship like:
Kitty PoP – too cool for words, eh?
- How We Decided to Self-Insure
- When to Refinance Your Mortgage
- and, Prioritizing Our $200K in Debts …
and we let you get to know this cool cat – Kitty PoP. But we haven’t really touched much yet on how we work on bringing happiness into our lives.
One of the big ways that we find happiness is…
Knowing Who We Are And Being Cool With It
Mr. PoP and I are fairly introverted people , and – according to Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
As natural introverts, Mr. PoP and I don’t want to constantly be in a bustle of activity. Yes, sometimes it’s nice for a change, but more often than not we’re pretty content to entertain ourselves by reading, listening to music, getting together with small groups, and working on projects that we enjoy. We’re not ones to be the center of attention – heck, that’s probably one reason why we eloped when we got married!
Given that we live in a pretty extroverted society, it might be “easier” in the workplace if we were natural extroverts. That’s what people tend to expect, after all. And though we can “fake it” for a while, we’re not going to change our natural introversion anytime soon, and that’s perfectly okay with us!
Perhaps because of this natural introversion that we share, one of the things that brings us the most joy is having a sanctuary of sorts that we can escape to. In these sanctuaries we can be alone, with our books, our music, our thoughts – and just be. In the hustle and bustle of this extroverted society that we live in, it truly is an escape. And if you have any introversion tendencies at all, don’t hesitate to insist on this for yourself. Our sanctuaries re-energize us and help to keep us sane. =)
What Do Our Sanctuaries Look Like?
The view from our bed. We can read in bed or while lounging in the adirondak chairs by the pool and feel like we are away from it all.
Running is one of Mrs. PoP’s favorite sanctuaries – she savors this alone time getting to enjoy the sunrises and sunsets through the palm trees while tuned in to her iPod.
Mr. PoP’s home office is one of his sanctuaries. With a coffee cup, his favorite headphones, favorite chair, a couple of computer screens and a work bench he gets to keep as messy as he likes, he’s content to spend hours here.
Do you have some introverted tendencies? Do you have a favorite place or activity that you escape to? What do some of your sanctuaries look like?
I like the view from your bed. That looks heavenly. I basically hate my house right now…but we won’t be mocing until we can buy our dream house in cash….which will be 3-4 years from now. So no, I dont have a sanctuary. I will one day though =)
Our house is far from a dream house, but we still have our spots where we get ‘away’ without leaving.
I should show you a picture of my garage. That’s the place. All my tools are there and my radio. I hang out in there, it’s pretty awesome. When I go there, my wife knows that that’s TB time. My girls come bug me sometimes, but that’s okay. It’s more the outside world I’m getting away from and not my family.
Your garage sounds like it would make Mr PoP jealous. We’ve got a tiny garage, so his workspace is pretty small, but he can still spend hours at his workbench out there if he’s got something greasy he’s tinkering with.
Very cool. I’d like to see more photos of people’s sanctuaries
hey, maybe we can start a movement? Seems very personal, like a peak at someone’s life. You have a nice bedroom view – I’m jealous!
I’d love to see other people’s too! Tweet us your sanctuary pics! How cool would it be to have a follow-up with pics of lots of different people’s sanctuaries. =).
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[...] PoP @ Planting Our Pennies writes Find A Sanctuary – Mrs. PoP discusses the PoP’s natural introverted tendencies and how they seek out [...]
[...] my own ways of faking extroversion when others seem to expect that type of reaction. I’ve sought out sanctuaries to which I can retreat to calm my overwhelmed senses and just “be”. These coping [...]
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