The Intrepid Introvert

Apr 12

Apr 12 Week 6: 100 Acres Art & Nature Park [Score +9]

Adjacent to the Indianapolis Museum of Art—what I believe to be one of the most beautiful places in Indianapolis—is the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres.

Apr 4

Apr 4 Week 5: A Modern Calligraphy Workshop [Score +8]

Introvert Amanda

Activities

Calligraphy is all over Instagram and Pinterest, and I got to try my own hand at it in a modern calligraphy workshop through the women's networking group at my office.

Apr 1

Apr 1 Week 4: Circus School [Score +10]

Introvert Amanda

Activities

Think of how you feel when you’ve enjoyed a performance so much you want to keep living it after the last curtain falls. When you’re a kid, dreaming like that means at least one thing: imaginative imitation in your living room. I admit it: I still do it to this day.

Mar 28

Mar 28 Week 3.1: I Paid for Good News [Score +2]

Introvert Amanda

Activities

A mentor gave me some advice years ago that I haven’t explicitly taken until just this week: he recommended that I subscribe to a good national newspaper, like the New York Times, and read it once a week.

Mar 21
Mar 21 Week 3.0: Four-Legged Extrovert [Score +7]

Introvert Amanda

Activities

You’ve seen it: Headphones. Earbuds. Eyes averted, intent on our own thoughts, entertainment, and digital conversations. Avoiding other people. But all rules fly out the window when I’m leashed to a small, friendly black dog.

Mar 18

Mar 18 Week 2: Meditate Daily [Score +2]

Introvert Amanda

Activities

Encouraged by many top-performers who credit daily meditation as one of their keys to success, I chose to devote ten minutes a day to meditation, and I made myself get up 15 minutes early each day to do it.

Mar 13

Mar 13 Week 1: Fort Caroline National Memorial [Score +10]

Introvert Amanda

Activities

In this official Week 1, Mylee and I took a little road trip up to Jacksonville, Florida, and visited Fort Caroline National Memorial. This site memorializes the short-lived French settlement in Florida in the 16th century.

Mar 9
Mar 9 The Intrepid Introvert: A Year of Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone

Introvert Amanda

Launch

The Intrepid Introvert is one of the most ambitious—and exciting—personal projects I’ve ever undertaken. And by reading this, you, my friend, will be witness to my adventures, anxieties, awkwardness, awe, and many other emotions and nouns that begin with the letter “a” and every other letter of the alphabet.

Mar 9
Mar 9 Scoring: The Rules of the Game

Introvert Amanda

Let’s be nerdy and add some quantitative measurement to this project, shall we? For an introvert like myself, each kind of activity and interaction has a different magnitude on the comfort-zone scale.

Mar 9
Mar 9 Activity Ideas: A Growing List of Fun Things I Want to Do

Introvert Amanda

Activities

I need at least 52 things to do, classes to take, places to visit, and activities to try. Here’s the list I have started so far. What do you love to do, where do you love to go, and what would you suggest I add?

Mar 9
Mar 9 Confession

Introvert Amanda

Confession: I’m 32 years old, single, and haven’t been on a date in three years.

Mar 2
Mar 2 Inspiration: the Light-Bulb Moment

Introvert Amanda

An eco-friendly light bulb snapped on in my head: thoughts and ideas that I’d been turning over in my mind for weeks or even months converged in one exciting moment, and the idea for this project was born.

Hi.