Introversion and Extroversion

There are many articles, books, blogs, videos, etc. about Jungian personality traits of introversion and extroversion.  Here's my summary:

Introversion is a inward movement of energy (contractive).
Extroversion is an outward movement of energy (projective).

There are different reasons for the direction of flow.  However, I can only use myself as an example, as I could not find examples of Jungian personality traits being discussed as energy flows.  As much as I can understand myself (not enough), below are some possible reasons of the inward flow of personal energy:

1) Low energy level:  When I am tired, either lack of sleep, or body requires extra energy to rebuild, realign, recover, etc., then I pull in my energy.

2) Creative work:  When I write, I draw in a lot of energy, because otherwise I am a scatterbrain whose ideas don't flow logically or structurally.  Other individual activities such as reading also draw in a lot of energy, but it differs in the sense that the book does not originate from you, but from an outer source.  You are in effect, pulling energy into you from the book, aka, there's energy download into you.  When you write, draw, etc., the piece of art originates from your imagination, and hence you do need to draw in your own energy, because no energy no imagination (then no output).

3) Fear:  It could be fear of the world, fear of people, fear of being judged, etc.  Carl Jung said, introverts are not necessarily shy***.  However, shy people do contract their energy, and thus exhibit a range of introverted behaviors.

4) Right-brained:  Some people are more intuitive.  This can be read on the Luna (moon) mount of the palm.  Either Jung or Seth (or both) said that individual psyche is connected to collective psyche.  We receive knowledge from our surroundings all the time, but not all of us are consciously aware of this, nor have practiced actively retrieving the information dumped into our psyche.  Nonetheless, those who are more intuitive, or those with active higher chakras, would be more drawn toward the knowledge within.  There's the saying that "God is within us", "Buddha is within us (佛在心中求)", "Divinity is within us", etc., because it is!  When you are lost, look within, and you will find light/wisdom to guide you out of your darkness.  However, those who are not used to seeking within will seek without, only to be more lost!  That's okay.  Being lost is actually also part of the learning process.  ^_^

On the topic of energy flow into and out of the human body, I shall add that we are constantly engaging in energy transfer with our environment, primarily via our vortices (although those with very permeable skin can also exchange energy through smaller ports).  There are two things that can be exchanged:  a) energy/prana/qi, and b) consciousness/knowledge/intelligence$$$.

An extrovert exchanges energy with the people and things around him.  His energy is more expansive and expressive.

Jung only observed and defined the traits, but did not suggest how to change them.  This is what I really want to postulate!

Since energy goes wherever attention or intention goes, we simply need to change our focus, to change the direction of our energy flow.  But this does not work if the physical body is in need of a lot of energy (see first reason).  Also, we could change our (emotional) desire.  However, these are only temporary changes.  Changing our personality trait is like changing our dominant hand.  Can you autograph with your non-dominant hand?  In theory, yes.  In practice, you would not bother.  ^_^

I will speak specifically about public speaking, an activity most would associate with extroversion.  Have you ever attended seminars where the audience lost interest in the speaker?  That's when the speaker is not drawing in the energy from the crowd.  Public speaking is not simply a projection of the speaker's energy toward the crowd, but also a drawing in of the energy from the crowd.  It is an act of energy exchange.  Communication is an energy exchange, even for one-way communication.

Be more aware of the quality of the energy that you are attracting.  You are not a garbage can, although you may choose to be one.  ^_^  Make a conscious choice as to what you want in, and what you want out.  Happy exchange!

-------------
***My Yemeni friend, who is a psychologist, said, shyness is emotional (fear); whilst nervousness is mental (negative thoughts).

$$$On a related note, divine intelligence is both energy plus consciousness.  Hence, you can communicate with them, and you can feel their energy.