In Favor of a Quiet Home Life

Embracing my introversion has opened up a whole new world.

As I gradually opened up to this call toward introversion, I kept coming back to how delight and a quiet home life intersect. These little things—these overlooked, underrated, simple pleasures—were doing more for my mood and sense of well-being at home than churning away at project after project.

Amid the repetitive rhythm of daily life, one of my favorite indulgences is the act of daydreaming. Ever since I was a child, I have found myself wandering freely through the realms of imagination. What started with a subconscious need to soothe myself, at its best, has proven fertile ground for a rich inner life. The mundane becomes magical, and the ordinary is transformed into the extraordinary. My daydreaming has given way to lucid dreaming and sometimes these images are so vivid, reality pales in comparison. 

When I gained the nickname “Spacey Katie” for wandering in my mind during academic lessons, dance classes, and softball games, I learned my tendency to remove myself from the here and now wasn’t exactly helping me navigate social settings. Like most introverts, I saw my natural state as “less” than—something to “fix” to excel in this world. 

But lately, I’ve found myself making more room for introversion. This winter was deafeningly quiet in all areas of my life, a sort of magic dark that felt intentional. Like space had been made to come home to this part of myself. I didn’t have my usual escapes: my creativity felt stunted, schedules were bare-bones, and indulging in alcohol and food just made me feel worse. My intuition was telling me to take the quiet and just be with the emptiness. I soon came to realize this emptiness was life-giving.