FL

Greetings from the sunny south.

During my stay in Florida, I would like to share a few of my favorite treasures while they are still near and dear.

First, a quick overview of the trip. I traveled out on Saturday by car with my parents and friend, Holly. We are currently staying near Sarasota on Siesta Key Beach. It is fantastic. The sand on the beach is like flour, the ocean is perfect for kayaking, and the skies have mostly been sunny.

Onto the favorites…

1. The Birds.

Holly does not understand my appreciation for the birds, but I love them. They hang out on the beach all day long, and they will just sit in rows and look at the ocean. The idea or actual appearance of food visibly excites them, and if one spots an apple core or bread crumb, he calls all of his friends over. The best are the tiny little baby birds that run around very fast—they are adorable. I really like photographing these birds, and they are quite cooperative since they let me get so close.

2. The Elderly.

I noted tonight that so far on this entire trip, I have been immersed in the “45 and older” age group everywhere that I go. I mean, I knew that Florida was typically filled with those that retire or vacation here during the winter months, but I didn’t know it was this extreme. Consequently, I have really enjoyed seeing the aged walk along the beach every day. They encourage me to appreciate the youth of my life, and I smile at their courage to walk the beach with canes and shell search.

3. The Sunsets.

A bit cliché, but the sunsets here are beautiful. Every night when the sun sets, someone blows a horn, and the same happens for when it rises in the morning. One night, I went out to view the sunset up close and personal, and there was a huge crowd scattered out on the beach with cameras, friends, and lovers, peering out into the orangey yellow ocean’s waters as it fell from the sky. It’s a beautiful signature to the tropical warmth of the day.

Tomorrow and Friday are both supposed to be the first cloudy/rainy days that I have experienced, but with temperatures in the 60s/70s, I’m not complaining. Especially when I call home and find out it’s 10 degrees and snowing. It’s going to be fantastic on Saturday, so. I’ll hit the beach then.

Holly and I found this excellent little smoothie shop thanks to the cabana boy out here, so we enjoyed a strawberry smoothie with a twist of lemon yesterday. The ocean was in the background, the breeze on my face, and the sun shining down. I just don’t think life can get much better than that. Ok, it can. But really, if I had to pick a day of blissful relaxation, that would come pretty close to the description that I would give.

Did I tell you I took my turn at kayaking? It took me about 30 seconds being crammed into a 3-seater to figure out I’d rather go it alone. I tend to be more independent in activities that require my physical participation unless it is extremely difficult to pull off without a team effort, and so I gladly parked in a single red kayak and headed out into the ocean’s waters yesterday, leaving my mom and Holly to kayak in the banana colored 2-seater. It was fun and great exercise. We all had a nice glide on the ocean.

Holly leaves Friday, my parents will most likely take off on Monday and the Steffen family will come on Tuesday. I’m staying on next week to help out with the Steffen kids, so I have one week left yet here in the sunny state. My plan is to bring back a pocketful of sunshine, so if you’re an Illinoisan, look for a warm weekend on the 7th/8th.

Love you all!

T

creative procrastinaor

Procrastinate.

That word is an everyday truth for me. Often, it is what keeps me spontaneous and it lets me play off of my spur-of-the-moment inspirations. Other times, it is responsible for my crashing to meet last-minute deadlines and it plagues my ability to stay on any sort of a schedule.

Anyway, for my birthday, Heather got me a planner that is entitled "Do it Later! A 2009 Planner (or Non-Planner) for the Creative Procrastinator." It's by Mark Asher, and I don't think I've met the guy but he must know who I am, because this planner was written for me.

It's just hilarious. And it's perfect for me and anyone out there who has a tendency to "put off and play with time."

Every week is accompanied by a quip of "Procrastinator Wisdom." Then beneath that there are 4 areas for you to list items that fall into any of these categories:

1. Things I have to do but that can wait a day, or two, or three...
2. Small things I have to do before I can do the big things I have to do
3. Things I absolutely have to do unless I absolutely don't want to do them
4. Things people have been bugging me to do for a really long time

There is also a "doodle block" for each week with a big rectangular space to draw whatever you want.

Then, of course there are spaces to write in your actual scheduled appointments and life meetings for each day of the week. At the end of every month, there are 2 pages designated to fun ideas and advice. Among these include "How to Survive a Deadly Boring Workday," "Play the People Watching Game," and "Quick Time Fillers," which give directions for each. At the end of this month, I also have this little piece of fun to keep me busy sometime:

"If you were a performer with one name (like Madonna, Sting, Bono), what would it be? (List 10 possibilities.) And then there are 10 lines for my possible choices.

So, thanks to Heather, if I am late to an appointment or forget I was supposed to give you a call, I am most likely scribbling away in this planner on my doodle square or trying to come up with 10 new names for myself.

I'm kidding... but really, this is a fun little planner and I laugh every time I look at it!

Today's Top Ten Tuesday will be the top 10 "Procrastinator Wisdom & Activity" pieces it sprinkles throughout the planner. Vote for your favorite.

1. How can I be a procrastinator if I always eat my chocolate right away?

2. WARNING: Finishing every item on your to-do list can cause boredom, disorientation, and emptiness.

3. A to-do item is nothing more than a suggested activity to be undertaken if desire meets opportunity.

4. Buy two bags of your favorite chips and count how many chips are in each bag.

5. A wise man said long ago: The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up.

6. From time to time, reflect on the things you could have done... then forget about them.

7. Overcoming procrastination is like overcoming ice cream. You can do it, but you'll regret it.

8. Paying your bills on time creates cash flow problems.

9. E-mail has become an indispensable form of communication. It is imperative that you check it every 5 minutes.

10. Separate your laundry into whites and dark. Then separate your darks into individual colors. Then separate your individual colors into regular, light, and dark.

So, this planner is quite possibly not the best medicine for my "put it off and do something else" tendencies, but you have to admit, it is quite humorous, and for those of you who fall into this category, it has some truth to it!

Enjoy.

Love you all.

T

steel magnolias

Last night, I was craving a big bowl of popcorn. My general rule of thumb is that I only like to enjoy popcorn as a treat when I watch a movie. Seeing as it was the coldest day of the year and I had spent all of it inside my warm toasty house, why not wrap up in a blanket and have a movie night?

That's precisely what I did. Sometimes, I feel light-hearted, happy-go-lucky, and I just want to laugh, so I'll pick a comedy. Other times, I'd rather learn something about history or watch something that is going to enlighten me, but last night I felt like it would be ok to have a good cry. And let's be honest-- not matter how strong I'm feeling in the beginning, I know I can't control the flood when it comes. So when I chose "Steel Magnolias" as the movie of choice, I knew I'd be crying by the end of it. And I was.

Yet that's not the point right now. The relevance it has to this post is that I am going to pick my 5 favorite quotes from that movie and list them for today's Friday's Favorite.

1. "Smile! It increases your face value." (Truvy)

2. "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." (Truvy)

3. "I'm not crazy, I've just been in a very bad mood for the last 40 years!" (Ouiser)

4. "Oh, Sammy's so confused he don't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt." (Truvy)

5. "Well, I'm sorry, Sammy. But I am not about to spend the next fifty years of my life with someone I'm not gonna run into in the hereafter." (Annelle)

Vote for your favorite.

Love you all.

T

Top Ten "When I Grow Up"

In the days when we attended kindergarten, ate milk and cookies, and hung paintings on the refrigerator, a popular question for us was, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

My current occupation is not one in which, looking back, I would have necessarily accurately predicted. Furthermore, lately I have been revisiting the recurring childlike thought of, "I wish I could be that when I grow up."

My Top Ten Tuesday will be a combination of my childhood wish list and my current one.

1. Author
This roots back to early childhood. Ever since I could hold a pencil in my hand, I have been writing, writing, writing. I could be found at the kitchen table with those large pieces of white paper, scribbling all kinds of stories about cats, fish, rivers, and people. I also wrote poetry and songs. In fact, I may need to resurrect one of these old stories for another post sometime. Then, I learned to type. Oh, that was good. I taught myself the "two finger" method where I used my two pointer fingers and boy, was I speedy. Forget proper typing technique, I flew on that keyboard with my 2 fingers. I tapped away on those keys, writing stories about pets, animals, and friends. I used Lotus Notes, and I remember the blue background on the screen with the white courier text. Then, I would print off my stories onto the white printer paper with the perforated edges, and I would sit and tear off the ends. Anyway, I have always enjoyed writing and honestly thought that someday, I would go on to write books. In grade school, I entered my books into the Young Author's competition and won 3 years in a row for either writing or illustration, attaining the "District Award" in 3rd grade for my book "Pretty Bird II." I was quite the little aspiring writer. My #1 goal in life is to publish a book someday, so it is still an option in my mind.

2. Radio Show Voice
At a relatively early age, I learned how to record to tape. I had my very own microphone that I hooked up to the sound system in my bedroom. From there, I recorded radio shows, meetings, songs, skits, and real life commentary. I loved it. I would get my friends and cousin in on it, and we would make radio talk shows with sound effects and music and everything. I also created these tapes for my cousin with special programs and commentary on them, and then I would give them to her to listen to as entertainment. She would always give me one in return, and we had a little radio show exchange going on for awhile.

As a little girl, I was very quiet and shy in school, but at home and around friends and family I was know as the "motor mouth" who wouldn't stop talking. I talked very fast and tended to "show off" (no, you would have never guessed!) and entertain. My family always jokingly said that I should go on talk radio.

Maybe I missed my calling?

3. Veterinarian
My best friend and I LOVED animals. We would find sick or injured animals all of the time in our neighborhood and care for them. We also had quite the animal cemetery going on in my backyard. Sometimes, if the animal didn't "make it," we would conduct a funeral ceremony. Anyway, we loved to learn about animals and had an "Animal Club." We also watched many informational programs on TV about animals and we would take notes about each animal we learned about in a binder that we created.

Since then, my love for animals has died down quite a bit, but I do still really love cats and birds. Other than that, I can't say that I am too attached to the whole "vet" idea.

4. Taste Tester
I have always wanted to be one of those people who they pay to come taste food. I don't know if they do it for research sometimes or just to see what is more well-liked, but if it's getting paid to eat, I'm in!

5. Illustrator
This was another childhood passion of mine. I used to draw all of the time. It went hand-in-hand with writing. All of my stories were illustrated. In fact, my love for drawing and creating became a fun hobby with my cousin in Jr. High when we used to draw comics and people all of the time in more of a "cartoon" style. We had a blast drawing pictures together, but I must say that after that phase my love of drawing slid to an all-time low. That is when the computer age took over my life and all of my hand-drawn tendencies faded away. Instead of drawing, I used Photoshop as a tool.

6. Actress
Another one that seemed to live out in my childhood. I used to be involved with plays but more than that, I was always so involved emotionally as a child. I was always into emotional experience. I can remember running across the alley barefoot or walking through the woods and pretending like I was in some sort of a movie. I was the actress, and the cameras were following me with music in the background. I have always "seen" movie scenes playing out in my head, especially when I can link them to real life, and most certainly when I hear music. Anyway, lately I have revisited the idea that acting is such an interesting concept. How does one take on the role of a character, and remain "real" and believable? It must take tremendous research, skill, and practice.

7. Gymnast
I was one of those kids who dreamed big. I could hardly pull of a cartwheel but I still thought that maybe I was going to the Olympics. I would watched gymnastics on TV and think, "Maybe if I practice REALLY hard." I took a handful of tumbling classes but I never did win a hand stand contest. It was a nice thought, but now that I have grown older, I see clearly that I was never cut out for such a sport. I tend to shy away from sports in general, and especially ones that require any sort of coordination and guts.

8. Meteorologist
Oh man, I loved the weather. I checked the weather section of the newspaper compulsively every day. I always knew the high and the low, and I was so interested in what was happening. Tornadoes and storms scared me to death, but I thought everything else was so fascinating.

9. Advertising
In Jr. High, we went through a "Career Week" and we had to establish the job we were interested in and have a mock interview according to our choice of occupation. I chose the field of advertising, seeing it as the closets pick to what I wanted at the time. It's interesting that I should end up in a job that requires a reasonable amount of expertise in that very field!

10. Christian
No matter what my job is on earth, one job that I will always have is to be a child of God. Regardless of my earthly occupation, the work of the Lord must be done. In all areas of my life, God gets the glory! I can look back over my childhood or even on this very day think: Now wouldn't it be great if I was that. Yet what could be a more important job than to be a child of the King, and to do the work of the Lord? In all reality, that is my only real job while here on earth. Occupation and career can come and go, and seems to be a pattern in the world. Some people may never even have a career or a job in their lifetime, whether due to health, lack of opportunity, or location. That puts it into perspective, and reminds us that whether we go to the office every day, live in a hut, or get married and have a family, our #1 job on earth is to spread the Truth and glorify God in all things.

---

As a kid, I never wanted to be the typical "teacher or nurse." However, in reviewing my list, one theme does seem to stick out-- most of the probable choices fall within the "creative" and "artistic" categories, which makes me think that my current career of graphic design and photography seem to be a good fit!

What did you want to be "when you grew up?"

Love you all!

T

Friday's Favorites

Everyone has favorites.

Some people are very true to their fancies and establish favorites that are a life-long interest. Others may have a favorite ice cream flavor one day, and completely change their mind tomorrow.

I fall in the latter category.

That is why I am establishing "Friday's Favorites" today. Every so often on a Friday, I'll post the 5 favorites in my life that seem to be lingering at the forefront of my mind.

Here goes today.

My Current Favorite...

1. Quote.
I'm splitting this into sub categories because I have two: a) is inspiring and b) is a spontaneous and irrelevant phrase.

a) "Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing." -Albert Schweitzer

b) "Winner winner chicken dinner."
(Derived from Las Vegas casinos back in the day. There used to be a $1.74 chicken dinner special, and standard bets were at $2, so if you won you had enough money for a dinner.)

2. Inanimate Object.
Candles. I love all the different flavors. Scent is also a powerful thing. It sets the mood. It is a sensational experience. AND, it helps us to recall memories! See this for an interesting bit of information on how smell & memory are linked.

3. Experimental Picture.
Shown below. I took this in the Fall time when it was still warm & sunny out. My two friends allowed me to snap photos of them one afternoon as an experimental session. When it comes to pictures, I am a "composition" girl. I like how elements in a picture work together to communicate, and then when we add people (human connection, emotion, or action) to a picture, it creates a wonderful package.


4. Hobby.
Playing the piano. I took piano lessons for years, and unlike most children I did not mind it, other than the occasional recital. My piano teacher was one of the nicest people in my life as a young girl. She was great. It was a relaxed environment with her, although one in which I learned. Anyway, I have been playing a lot lately. It's a wonderful relaxer. I like to sight read classics- Bach, Beethoven, Chopin. I also enjoy playing hymns and sheet music. My favorite times are those when I simply improvise. It's a creation process, and definitely one of experimentation. It's not always easy to know which chords sound good together and in what key, but it sure is fun once you get the hang of it.

5. Concept.
Special Relativity. Fascinates me. I recently watched a program on the History channel with my dad called "The Seven Signs of the Apocalypse." It was a fantastic investigation of the prophecy of the Bible and how in today's world, we have scientifically proven that each and every sign could come to pass. Do we need scientific proof in order for God to pull it off? Absolutely not, but it's fascinating to see how easily these events could start unfolding. Scientists are seeing it. Check out this program and it's facts on the History Channel or the website. ("The Seven Signs are clear: We will be struck by deadly plagues, famines and earthquakes... The sky will turn dark and oceans will turn to blood... And the antichrist will emerge to fight the final battle between good and evil." Source: www.historychannel.com)

Onto special relativity... after viewing this program, I talked to my dad about about one of the signs that was discussed regarding a star falling from the sky. Hence the talk about speed of light and stars and space and ultimately, the concept of special relativity. What strikes my fancy the most is the ideas of length contraction and time dilation. Check it out!

Have a favorite day...

Love you all!

T

coffee shop conversation

Some days my mind wanders so.

It goes here and there. It takes me so many places.

I sit down at the writing board and just type. At times, I have misjudged my course of inspiration and nothing results. But if I’m lucky, the keyboard serves as only a very tiny barrier between what is in my mind and what results on screen. Words, thoughts, emotions, dialogue, characters, and a whole other life jumps into action. It all pours out of me like it was just dying to escape. The oddest part is, I have no idea where these thoughts comes from. I don't spend hours of research or days of pondering over what I write in my stories. It just unfolds before my eyes, leaving even me surprised.

The most exciting part of the process, to me, is that I meet new characters. I discover new places, experience foreign situations, and take the emotional journey in any number of ways.

My desire has always been to experience life at its fullest, and for me that means diving into the deep sea of the unknown. Who will I run into today? What can come from this? How can I design that to affect others? What am I communicating?

Often, who I want to be and what I want to experience is so inhibited by myself.

Today I was inside of a coffee shop, and there were 2 people in line in front of me. One was a man, a very animated storyteller with bright eyes and big hand gestures and he was shooting out opinions about politics. The other was a lady, seated on a stool, glamorously dressed and although she hadn’t said much, I could tell she was full of life by her vivacious laughter.

The lady behind the counter was diligently making coffee drinks of choice, tuned into the conversation but working. The man was suddenly talking about how he and his 3 brothers worked at a jail. Up until this point I wasn’t hugely interested but that sparked my attention.

When my attention is sparked by people, I often start to analyze why I am interested and how I want to make an impact or why they have affected me. What question do I have, or do I even want to get involved?

Often, I don’t participate. And sadly, regretfully so. Yet my mind is so quick to formulate why I shouldn’t speak up because of all the worst case scenarios and awkward moments that may result, that by the time I muster up the wits and verbal eloquence to offer myself, the situation has terminated or I am left cowering in the corner.

Other times, it comes down to one thing that I hate to admit: I don't care enough. Sparking a conversation or joining one, especially in line at a coffee shop, requires effort and social rules and why establish all of this when we will be on our way in 3 minutes or less, and I must fight for a way to wrap it all up with a pretty little bow on top?

During the times that I do exercise my naturally extroverted nature with no inhibitions in the way, I am almost always glad that I did, even when it doesn't go as anticipated. All in all, I am genuinely interested in people and if I had my choice, I would meet a new person every day, because every person is interesting. Today happened to be such a case, and I eventually interjected my main question, which was, what does he do at the jail? He told me, he works as a prison guard.

This fascinated me for some reason. This man was highly sarcastic on several occasions and made jokes about his occupation and those he came in contact with, but before I had time to get anymore of a gist, he had to leave and it was time for me to put in my order.

The lady on the stool continued to chat with the worker and cackled loudly every so often. She was the type that would say something and then laugh very loud for an extended period of time. People with such external joy entertain me so. I asked her how business was going; she runs a small shop attached to the coffee store that sells classy & creative gifts and furniture.

I retrieved my coffee (which wasn’t a coffee, but a green tea freeze) that wasn’t even for me, and left.

My coffee shop experience paired with my urge to go exploring in some of my old writing documents today reminded me of one thing: my mysterious passion for certain things.

I used to write all of the time. Stories about all sorts of topics under the sun… topics that to this day, I am not even sure why I did because I have no experience with them. To me, in order to experience something in life that I maybe never will, I write about it.

One of my older short stories was entitled “Jackson Brown” and was about an elderly lady who revisits a memory of her role as a grade school recess aide earlier in her life when she reads an article one morning in the newspaper about a man who went to jail for robbery, and she realizes it was a child who she had tried to connect with as an aide.

Why did I write about that? ...a criminal going to jail? There is actually a notable inspiration source where this story is concerned but for the most part, my writings spur up from anywhere and everywhere, and any topic that seems fascinating at the moment is game. The story wraps up with a nice emotional sentiment illustrating the importance of human connection, touching peoples’ lives, and the impact we have on one another for years to come.

Every so often, our elder or one of our ministers at church will talk about the prison ministries and how people go every Sunday morning for services. Every time, I get this tug on my heart. Is it possible to have a heart for a group of people when you have had no direct experience with any of them?

Anyway, all of these thoughts and happenings today somehow created this post that, hopefully, is some sort of cohesive whole by the time it is finished.

In order to further randomize, let me tack on a piece that I found while document browsing today.

I took a creative writing course at ISU and loved it. It really stretched me creatively and forced me to break some of the rules that I had been abiding by to construct even stronger, more powerful work.

One of the pieces I came across was titled as a hybrid piece, and I just vaguely remember writing it. It was unfinished, and I did not end up using it for the assignment at hand (rather, I used a “stream of consciousness” piece). So I polished it off today and will share it now.

Here it is:

Driving
A green Volkswagen Beetle, working a full-time creative job, and loving life as a single, twenty-something female.

REWIND

Attending
A four-year university, designing posters and editing videos, and hanging out with friends every chance I get.

REWIND

Walking
To a giant school of many lost teenagers every day for class, returning home just in time to catch a few rays or watch a favorite TV show, and chatting online for hours until my eyes are so tired that I turn out the light.

REWIND

Running
Barefoot through the rocky alley on warm summer nights, spinning around in my backyard until I collapse onto the grass in dizzy laughter, and dancing in front of the red sunset to catch thousands of tiny lightning bugs.

REWIND

Sliding
Down flights of carpeted stairs on my padded behind, gripping a leaky plastic cup of juice while eating pretzels and marshmallows, and learning the many firsts of crawling, walking, and talking.

REWIND

Psalm 139:14
I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.

---

It sure compartmentalizes and simplifies life. In so many ways, it’s such a predictable path. And in every way, it is definitely a blessed one. I can’t help but think of the less fortunate who have experienced more turmoil in their first “rewind” than I have in my entire life time.

May we continue to reach out to people every day and show them Jesus!

Love you all!

T

p.s. To anyone who took the personality test from my last post and commented, I replied to you personally at the very end. Thanks for your participation!

your type.

As promised, this post will be devoted to personality types. I am very tempted to plunge into a full-fledged account of 2008, a welcomer of 2009, a recap of special memories and fond moments, or an opener for the new year.

Yet I will stay true to my word and instead dive into a topic that has continued to fascinated me over the years. There are certain things that become tiresome and boring, monotonous and drab after much study and research. However, any exposure to "personality type" information only adds fuel to the fire for me. My family members and friends often shake their head at me.

"How can you read the same thing over and over?" they ask.

I don't know. I just love it.

Here we go.

---

Start out by taking this test.
It is 72 questions long. Answer the questions as honestly as possible.

This will give you your 4-letter personality type based on the Myers-Briggs temperament preferences.

Each person has a type that consists of the 4 temperament pairs. You are either:
Extravert or Introvert
Sensing or Intuitive
Thinking or Feeling
Judging or Perceiving

E/I Descriptions: Where we get our energy.
Extraverts act/speak first before thinking. They focus outwardly, are talkative, outgoing, and enjoy discussing. They are keen on variety and action, and tend to think out loud.

Introverts like to be alone. They prefer to focus inwardly, and may often appear more quiet. They enjoy one-on-one to big group interactions, and would rather reflect within rather than openly discuss.

S/N Descriptions: Information gathering- how we take in information.
Sensors prefer facts and concrete information. They are more interested in what is actual, and pay attention to specifics. They tend to be more practical and realistic, focusing on the present. Such types value commons sense and trust their past experience.

iNtuitives prefer insights and abstract information. They are more interested in what is possible, and focus on the big picture. Often inspired and imaginative, these types focus on the future and value innovation. They tend to be speculative and trust their imagination and hunches.

T/F Descriptions: How we evaluate information and make decisions.
Thinkers are firm-minded, and analyze any problem at hand. They are objective, and convinced by logic. Thinkers tend to be direct, value competence, and decide with their head. They value justice, are good at critiquing, and usually don't take things personally.

Feelers are gentle-hearted and sympathize with your problems. They are subjective, convinced by their values. They tend to be tactful, value relationships, decide with their heart, and value harmony. They can be seen as overemotional, are good at appreciating, and usually take things personally.

J/P Descriptions: What lifestyle we prefer.
Judging types seek closure and value structure. They plan ahead, like order, and have the mindset of "work now, play later." Such types like to complete projects, are goal-oriented, and want thinks settled and decided.

Perceivers seek openness and value the flow. They adapt as they go, and like flexibility. These types often "play now, work later," and like the startup phase of a project. They are process-oriented, a bit more easygoing, and like things open and spontaneous.

---

As you read those descriptions, it gives a breakdown of each preference and opens up insight about your assigned letter as well as shows you the opposing preference.

At this point, I want to point out one very important thing: There is no right or wrong personality type, or no "one ideal" preference or set of preferences. What this typology does is outlines our personality based on how we communicate, make decisions, and process information. It assigns preferences to us according to how we naturally carry out these areas in our lives. Each type has its positive points, and each type has its own pitfalls and area for personal growth.

In figuring out your own type and researching its tendencies, it opens up a whole new world of information that allows you to figure out why you think, act, and do the things that you do. It may solve some mysteries for you and may expose areas that you have wondered about. Furthermore, as you learn about the personality types of your family members and friends, it allows you to see why certain individuals may act, react, talk, or avoid the things that they do. It also brings to light potential problem areas in relationships, so that both involved may be aware of it and adapt to the other type accordingly.

---

This website gives great information on the 16 personality types formed from these 8 preferences. Once you figure out your type, you may visit this site and read about your own personality.

I own several informative books about these types. Leave a comment about what personality type you are and any other interesting information you found out, and let me know if you want me to share any other further notes with you... I would be happy to relay some more info specific to certain personality types!

I may do a follow-up post depending on interest.

---

My closing thoughts will include a selection from my Sanctuary Bible (NLT) retrieved from the Daily Sanctuary Devotional section:

"...our value and self-worth lie in the fact that we were created by God, in his image. Instead of basing our opinion of ourselves and others on the basis of looks (or personality, addition mine), we should base it on the wonder of who we are. We can run and cry and taste ice cream and program computers and write music. We are marvelous because the Creator made us so."

God has created us all uniquely, and perhaps to box us away within 16 personality types is not all-inclusive. It may generalize who we are as people and predict our patterns based off of theory, but who are we, really? Who we are is "precious in His sight," because we were made in his image.

May we flourish in the unique traits He has blessed us with, the many talents He has given unto us, and the copious preferences He has created in us. We have confidence not in ourselves, not in others or their words, but in who God has made us to be.

T, the text-book ENFP

personality information source: What Type Am I? Discovering Who You Really Are- Renee Baron.