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I asked Celia to try again, this time

with emotion in her voice.

“I can’t,” she said. “I can’t do it.”

But she did. “I want to end this marriage,”

she repeated, her voice choked

with sadness. She began to weep

uncontrollably.

Celia’s problem was not lack of feeling.

It was how to show her emotions

without losing control. Reaching for a

tissue, she quickly gathered herself, and

went back into crisp, dispassionate lawyer

mode. These were the two gears to

which she had ready access—overwhelming

feelings or detached selfpossession.

I tell you Celia’s story because in

many ways she’s a lot like Emily and

many introverts I’ve interviewed. Emily

is talking to Greg about dinner parties,

not divorce, but her communication

style echoes Celia’s. When she and Greg

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