The holiday season is not the ideal time for an introvert. The raucousness, the seemingly endless gatherings, phone calls, and grueling schedule of social obligations–they are all just a little too much for someone who spends much of their time “upstairs”.

Now that the holidays are almost over, and the buckling down period that is January and February are nearly upon us, I can breathe a sigh of relief that I will finally have an excuse to decline offers to socialize. During the post-holiday times, it’s perfectly reasonable to turn down evenings out because they conflict with the other things that normally come this time of year: resolutions.

The post-New Year celebration period is like its own micro-holiday for introverts. Since everyone is resolving to lose the weight, save money, eat better, and otherwise self-improve, they are spending more time at the gym, less time and money on going out and making party. This means there are fewer awkward moments of being invited to an event you don’t even want to go to in the first place. The introverts have free reign to become the recluses they so naturally are because everyone else is doing the same thing.

So, just as Festivus became “the holiday for the rest of us” so shall the two weeks of downtime associated January henceforth be the official holiday of Innies. I shall call it “Inuary”.

Inuary will be a “festival” beginning on the first Sunday after New Year. There will be no parties. No gifts (other than silence) will be exchanged, and there will be no decorations. Acceptable gatherings, if any, will entail little or no small talk, and will involve very small groups of people talking quietly about ideas and/or feelings.

So join me in a rousing moment of silence in honor of the winter calendar’s hottest new holiday–Inuary.

We’ll discuss what we think about it in a few weeks.