I know there’s been studies done on this. I started to wonder who the audience was that they studied.
I wondered if it is was neurotypical, corporate-types. Those where quick-thinking, surface-level, impress-me stuff is necessary.
As a neurodivergent, introvert who is reluctantly accepting that everything takes longer for me, including building and maintaining deep, comfortable, fulfilling relationships, I got to thinking (not for the first time) about what my first impression is like in the people I have met most recently. And most recently I mean 15 months ago in a psychotherapist’s supervision group where we process, empathise, question, reflect, adapt and work to remain open.
I feel myself in this group now. Last year, as a newbie, I was very much on the edge, and even though I knew that, felt that and was okay with that, I have felt a tangible (although is it, maybe visceral?) change in how I feel a part of that group. Crucially, I now feel a part of it.
If the first impression I leave with everyone is stand-offish, quiet, closed, hard to get to know or confusing because I give mixed signals as I move between communication through my mind or my body, then am I doomed to not have close, friendly relationships ever? Obviously that’s not the case. Which is why I started…
