Greta Garbo: What's so bad about being left alone?



(Garbo in 1925)

The prophet Elijah eventually realized that – when all is said and done – it’s best to listen to that still small voice within.  Greta Garbo seemed to have come to that same conclusion.

She wasn’t born a movie star, and she tried not to die one.  Her humble beginnings unfolded within an impoverished cold-water flat in Stockholm, Sweden.  Wikipedia quotes Garbo as remembering:  It was eternally gray – those long winter nights.  My father would be sitting in a corner, scribbling figures on a newspaper.  On the other side of the room, my mother is repairing ragged old clothes, sighing…  Such evenings are unforgettable for a sensitive girl…

Garbo was not only sensitive, she was also “a shy daydreamer” who “hated school and preferred to play alone.”  Wikipedia reports that she was an “imaginative child, and a natural born leader.”  In other words, she had all the makings of an introvert.

Although introverts are often described as “shy,” that word just doesn’t do them justice.  “Shy” often connotes social awkwardness and timidity.  Even one as astute as George Bernard Shaw used the word “shy” in this manner:  “The poor man was shy and hated society.”  Word usage of this sort can unfortunately brand introverts as anti-social loners – when, in fact, they simply relish the quiet side of life.

Carol Bainbridge explains that introverts “often avoid social situations because being around people drains

their energy.”  They often seek solitude in order to “recharge.”  When introverts do socialize, they often do so in one-to-one or small-group situations.  Their conversations often revolve around ideas rather than around everyday matters.  All this differs markedly from the general population, the majority of whom are extroverts that are energized by social events.  Introverts are therefore often misunderstood, and often stereotyped as “unfriendly” and “eccentric.”

Garbo certainly had her share of that.  Ask people what her most famous saying was, and they will likely guess:  “I want to be alone.”  However, what she claimed to have actually said was this:  I want to be left alone.

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greta_Garbo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/shy

http://giftedkids.about.com/od/glossary/g/introvert.htm

Copyright September 19, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved