Some people spend their lives feeling out of place in groups – but this tendency comes with unique opportunities
These are people who always prefer to have dinner with a friend one-on-one rather than attend a dinner party. When they have to attend large gatherings, they are the figure standing off to the side, deep in conversation with another person, rather than “working the room”. They would rather do work assignments individually than in a group, despise playing team sports, and find the shared traditions or rituals of communal life – office parties, graduation ceremonies, even religious holidays – difficult and even baffling. They are soloists who cannot play in an orchestra.
Sounds like an introvert. But wait...
Most people are familiar with Carl Jung’s concepts of extrovert (“one who faces outward”) and introvert (“one who faces inward”). But the fundamental orientation of a non-belonger is defined by the fact that it is rarely the same direction that everyone else is facing. That is how I came up with the term “otrovert” (in Spanish, “otro” means “other”).
So an otrovert has the social energy of an extrovert BUT usually only focuses on one person at a time. Interesting.
