Coming to Peace With My Inner Hermit

I've come to terms with the fact that I have an inner hermit lately. There's a part of me, and probably most other people, that has no desire to communicate with other human beings on occasion. Generally, the very social aspect of me wins out, but it doesn't change the fact that there exists a small aspect of me that tends towards being anti-social.

(bad joke break: Why did McCarthy become a hermit? Because he was anti-socialist!)

Now, my inner hermit doesn't like the idea of total and complete isolation. I've come to the theory that there are about 4 different types of hermits.

First, there is the Hermit's hermit. This is the guy who lives on the 12 foot diameter sandbar in the middle of a lake in the middle of an island in the middle of an ocean. He (or she) likes his privacy, and ain't no one gonna take that away.

Second , There's the guy who buys the small farm out in the middle of the prairie. This hermit doesn't mind if there's the occasional passer-by, they just don't want any kind of close personal contact, and the regular contact they do have is not to be on a consistant basis.

Thirdly, there's the hermit who lives in the run-down house in the corner of a small house in a small town. Everyone knows who they are, but they talk to no one. The prefer the fame of being enigmatic to the company of others.

Lastly, there's the neighbor who loves to live in the middle of a huge city with tons of people around. There's a new sort of anonymity in crowds. Instead of the anonymity of desolation, you get the anonymity of population. There are so many people, that you're just a bit. This hermit doesn't know their neighbors, doesn't talk to people, but he still enjoys the company of large groups of people, just not any kind of intimate relationship.

Alright, that's all basically pointless, really, just some thoughts on hermits. I think my hermit would probably fall into the last category. The only time that I ever run into my inner hermit though, is when I'm suddenly thrown into a situation where I meet someone who was previously just an acquaintance and I have the option of just leaving them to their life, or trying to make friends with them. My social self says, "ooh! More friends!" My inner hermit says, "awww, come on...don't you have too much to do already? Can you handle more friends?"

At this point, I always beat down my inner hermit and make the friend, or at least try to be social. In talking to other people, I'm finding out that I'm not the only one with an inner hermit though--maybe everyone's inner hermits could get together sometime, if that wasn't such a contradiction of ideas.