Social battery
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
I came across this expression recently. For all I know, it’s been in use for aeons, but it meant nothing to me, so I looked it up.
Briefly, it’s a metaphor which refers to the amount of energy a person has for socialising; to put it another way, it indicates a person’s ability to socialise before exhaustion sets in. It’s a lazy metaphor, much like ‘24/7’ because it obviates the need for careful thought and clear expression. It’s a kind of shorthand to explain a person’s reactions to different social situations.
Much as might be expected, one’s social battery can be charged or drained, according to personality and circumstance.
Extroverts may find that socialising charges their emotional battery, while introverts may experience the opposite and feel the need to retire to a quiet room to pursue their own, often solitary, interests. However, categorising people as either extrovert or introvert is far too simplistic. I suspect that most people show signs of both extremes in their personalities, reacting in different ways to a range of experiences and mixes of people.
Mood ring
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Mood rings became popular in the 1970s, but were not a true indicator of emotional mood, as they responded to changes in temperature rather than mood. They are still available along with a range of other wearable mood gauges. I think the best indicator of disposition is a person’s face, the eyes in particular.
