i like a good party.

The Prompt: “Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.” (Author: Shauna Reid)


Interestingly enough, just last night I was talking to the two introverted chuckleheads pictured here about social gatherings and the introvert/extrovert personalities. All three of us, and I believe everyone I’m close to who knows their type, tests as a Myers-Briggs introvert. In the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the introvert/extrovert type is determined by how you prefer to engage with the world, and where you gain energy from. It does not necessarily correlate with whether or not you spend a lot of time in social situation. To wit: I test as a really strong I, but I love a good party.

I also have a really broad definition of “party,” I think. Two people? Five people? Twenty? All parties. Work-related? Just friends hanging out watching a movie? Taking a walk? All parties. Or, at least, I want them to be. It’s this definition of the noun that I like the best: “an advantageous or pleasurable situation or combination of circumstances of some duration and often of questionable character.” Ok, perhaps not the “questionable character” part, but hey, sometimes that too—depends on who is doing the judging. And the verb form? Well, I’m all over “to enjoy oneself thoroughly and without restraint; indulge in pleasure.”

I tend to operate under the “life’s too short” principle. If I can pull together or in some way be party to [see what I did there?] a moment of enjoyment without restraint and with people I like, then I’ll choose that option every single time. To that end, there’s no way I can pick a single social gathering that rocked my socks off in 2010. They all do. Doesn’t matter if it’s a beer with some boys or hard liquor with some girls; could be coffee and a croissant, or a movie outing, or a chat by the fountain…could be one of you or four of you or eleven of you: let’s make a party out of it. But I would like to note that the “dinner out with a cluster of superawesome women in DC” that kfitz mentioned? Totally a party, and a good one.

I just wrote, and then erased, that I’m not sure exactly where my “make everything a party” mentality comes from. I know exactly where it comes from—experiencing transience. Or, more specifically, losing people. Some because of the whole “hey, people die!” thing, but also because I have historically had a difficult time staying in one place for very long, and that means friends made and friends drifting away, as we do. So, caught between liking people enough to make merry with them, and knowing the chances were good we’d not have merrymaking opportunities for more than a few months, maybe a couple years (tops), I set out to make every moment a party.

The “quirks” of my Echo Bazaar character (shown here), well, it comes by them honestly.

What was the question again? Oh, one “social gathering that rocked [my] socks off in 2010”. Yeah, if just one stands out to me, then I’m doing it wrong.


[This post is part of Reverb 10 “an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next.” This is my post #9.]

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6 Comments on “i like a good party.

  1. I am also a very socially minded Introvert (INFP). It’s always been fun to introduce Type to my classes, and have them guess my Type. They always think I’m an Extravert which cracks me up. 🙂

  2. I definitely share the “make everything a party” mentality, though mine has a different source code…

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