Smart Girls Have More Fun

Think back to the first time you fell in love with Amy Poehler. Was it when she dazzled you as the precocious pre-teen Kaitlin alongside her stepfather REE-ICK? Perhaps it was when, with utter flatulence, she boasted in her one leggedness (jealous?) as the grossly loveable Amber. Your heart definitely skipped a beat when you watched her co-anchor Weekend Update with the separate-but-equally awesome Tina Fey, and you’ll never forget the moment you first heard her say, “Your stupid space car locked me in!”

What's not to love?

You are in love with Amy Poehler. We all are. And like the best kind of love, we continually find new reasons to love her more. I thought that her performance on Parks and Recreation was just it for me. I truly thought if I squeezed anymore love in my heart for Amy Poehler I wouldn’t have room for more practical loves like my love of hygiene and my love of plucking my potential unibrow.

But dadgum, she’s done it again, and my eyebrows are still separated by a substantial distance, thank God. I think I’m a little late to this party, but have you guys heard of Smart Girls at the Party? If you have, you already love it. My sister told me about it last week, and I watched every episode in one night. It was pretty easy to do considering that each episode is less than ten minutes long.

For those who haven’t seen it, Smart Girls at the Party is a web series created by best friends Amy Poehler, Amy Miles, and Meredith Walker. The show is essentially an interview between Amy Poehler and a girl…who is smart. These smart girls are kids with special abilities and interests who deserve to be celebrated with a dance party (which is how every episode ends). The show’s tagline is probably the best way to describe its intent: “the show that celebrates extraordinary individuals who are changing the world by being themselves.”

There was this episode with a rock band comprised of twelve-year-olds that call themselves Care Bears on Fire (I mean, in terms of branding, that’s probably not a great name, but whatever. They are freaking TWELVE and amazing). Another episode focused on these two sisters who actually liked each other and didn’t want to freeze each other’s training bras or fart on each other’s pillows. In still another episode, this wonderfully sweet girl takes the Amys and Meredith to the community garden she created. It made me wish for just a second that I wasn’t the accidental plant-murderer that I am.

One episode I would particularly like to direct your attention to is this one with the effervescent Ruby:

While I think we can all agree that Ruby might need to take a few deep breaths, this is pretty much amazing. From the moment the word “feminism” crawls across the screen, it is clear that this girl is here to talk about something important.

I love how comfortable she is with that word. Feminism. When I was Ruby’s age, I had heard of feminism, but it wasn’t even close to an accurate understanding. From what I had heard growing up in central Texas, feminists were women who burned bras a long time ago for pretty much no reason. For me, this was particularly offensive because I couldn’t wait to wear bras. Come on, feminists!

It wasn’t until I got to college and took an intro to sociology class that this notion was truly abolished. For the first time in my life, I feel like I recognized that some level of unfair treatment of women actually existed. All of a sudden I became furious about the historical discrimination against women, and I became even more furious when I realized that some of this crap was still happening! In the workplace, on television, in classrooms, and in my daily life. Why was it that my only association with feminism had involved some charred bras?

The thing is I am lucky I was awakened in that sociology class because some people in there were totally unaffected. I went to Baylor University, and I don’t at all regret it (in fact I loved it), but diversity is not exactly its strength. In almost any class, 1/3 of the female population is comprised of former prom or homecoming queens. In that class where my brain was exploding, there were other girls there saying, “I mean, like, I just don’t feel like it’s that big of a deal anymore” and “Yeah, but since the man is the leader of the woman in a relationship, isn’t it fine that they are paid less? You know, since Eve came from Adam’s rib and all…” I sat there dumbfounded and also fearful that if they found me out, they might try to steal my ribs to make an even lesser sex.

What I love about little Ruby here is that there is really no ambiguity about what feminism means to her. While feminism is classified by like a million subgroups, Ruby simplifies the underlying reasoning of this movement perfectly: that boys and girls are of equal value.

Ruby means not to diminish in any way the value of boys but instead to illuminate the value of girls. If there is a situation where a woman is treated like she is worth even slightly less than her male counterpart, Ruby doesn’t like it, and she’s going to write a book about it and probably a song too.

I love the activism of Ruby, but I also love that Smart Girls at the Party is not all about fighting the system. Ruby is the sweet exception, but otherwise the show just celebrates these kids for who they are. The disparity between male and female salaries is not discussed. The phrase “glass ceiling” is never uttered. It is assumed that girls are awesome, and that is just a fact of life.

And it’s true, girls are awesome – especially the smart ones. In my time working with kids, I have met some amazing girls. I have met girls who get lost in reading for hours at a time and can talk about almost nothing else. I have met girls who can dance and play guitar and sing like freaking superstars. I have met girls who can paint abstract works of art (intentionally) and girls who play rugby and are missing permanent teeth as a result. I have met girls that dream of being geologists and paleontologists and biologists and, in one rare case, a proctologist. I have met girls who have shared their struggles and cried together. I have met girls who laugh so hard that they can't breathe and girls who cheer each other on no matter what. I have met girls who at first didn’t know each other but ended up becoming sisters.

I love when Ruby gets asked what it means to be a good friend, and she decides it’s when someone is crying and you ask, “Are you okay?” She’s right. I’ve seen it happen with girls Ruby’s age and it is beautiful.

The problem comes when that is not our response. When we see someone crying, and we instead decide to exploit her or say something awful to her or about her or about her family or about her decisions – that is the worst thing we can do. This happens a lot with girls, and I totally get why. In a world where we recognize, either consciously or subconsciously, a need to prove ourselves, we sometimes attempt to outperform our own kind – to disassociate ourselves from women.

This type of thinking does not work and it will never work. As Tina Fey says in the pretty-much-perfect film Mean Girls, “You all have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it okay for guys to call you sluts and whores” Run and tell that, Tina! Jealousy, subtle secret-fights, deceit, and eye rolls will never advance women. Friendship will, and it is the most powerful tool we have.

I am encouraged by Smart Girls at the Party in the same way that I am encouraged by all of the incredible young girls I have met. I see in these kids things that I struggle to do as an adult like believe in myself and talk to Amy Poehler without crapping my pants. It may be too soon to tell, but I kind of think these girls are going to kick ass when they grow up, and I’m so excited to live in that world.   

WAH would you EVER wanna go THAY-ER: Part 1

Too much to talk about. Long story short, Daniel and I moved from Austin, Texas to Brooklyn, New York creating one of the most epic journeys we have ever taken. We road-tripped through nine states, landed in Brooklyn, bought Metro Cards, and it's finally all starting to become slightly real. There is simply too much to cover in this entry, so I'm just going to start posting pictures.

THE ROAD TRIP:

We left bright and early at 6 AM. This was the last (also first) Austin sunrise 

we will see for quite a while.

  Road Trip snacks (not pictured: Mini Oreos and Wheat Thins)

We stopped in at Shipley's in Waco where we were given the exact donuts we asked for (false) and we got to spend time with the ever-beautiful Kaley Eggers. She really is beautiful as is evidenced in the above picture where she looks like Barbie's friend, Teresa, while I look like Barbie's forgotten sister, Tutti (1965-1971). I had just woken up...

 

                                       Teresa                                            Tutti

On top of her Teresa-like beauty, Kaley also has the most beautiful heart. She made Daniel and I this gift that we will so treasure forever. It will certainly be a part of every home we ever have.

Anyway, enough about how beautiful Kaley is. Moving on!

These are the places Foursquare suggested we go in some small town outside of Little Rock...

No thank you.

Passing through Memphis. 

Daniel got way too psyched about passing by this pyramid. 

So all of that was Day 1. 6 AM to 9 PM. Austin to Nashville. Radisson Hotel. Celebrity Apprentice finale. Room service pizza. Sleep. 

DAY 2

We found this pretty graffiti outside of the restaurant Phat Bites where we ate a lunch of mixed-reviews. Side note: there were so many grossly-named restaurants in Nashville. I loved it. I can't really remember any of them, but probably like...Butt Back Burger or something. These restaurants went for it. 

This is where President Andrew Jackson is buried. We went to his plantation, "The Hermitage" where we were led in a tour by someone who looked EXACTLY LIKE ANDREW JACKSON. I wish I had taken a picture of him, but he basically looked like this.

It's not like he was an Andrew Jackson impersonator. He just worked there. His life had become so immersed in thinking about Andrew Jackson that he literally took on his physical characteristics. That, or our tour guide was a ghost. I choose the latter. He winked at the end and then sort of disappeared....

I know this picture looks like the essence of freedom, but this was actually a field where Andrew Jackson's slaves worked. It was really humbling to be there. The people who worked at the Hermitage would casually mention Jackson's violence against his slaves amidst elaborate depictions of how great he was. That was kind-of-super offensive, I think. Get real, Ladies Hermitage Association.

This might also be a good time to talk about how this is where we met our first New York naysayer. His name was Larry. He asked why we were traveling through Nashville and we told him we were on our way to move to New York City. He looked like he had just seen a ghost (which he probably had because the tour guide was right there) and said, "WAH would you EVER wanna go THAY-ER?!" I was immediately frustrated with this man, but Daniel was super polite. He explained he was going to be in the New York Teaching Fellows Program, and Larry responded with a story about how his son and daughter-in-law had done Teach For America. "Worst. Experience. Of. Their. Lives" Yep. It's always good to discourage someone from making the selfish decision of teaching inner-city children. Thanks, Larry!

After leaving the Hermitage, we drove around downtown Nashville. Fun place.

We ate dinner at the Bluebird Cafe. Really fun. There was a songwriter's jam (I don't know the technical term) happening. The guy with the guitar wrote Eric Clapton's "Change the World" and some song from The Fox and the Hound 2. I'm not sure which one I was more impressed by. 

After this, I was jonesing for something sweet, so in a desperate decision, we decided to make our first trip to Waffle House. We've just never lived where this place exists. We drove up and were almost deterred by this sight: 

Some lady's barefoot feet! She wasn't even wearing uncomfortable shoes. They were flip flops. I was so bothered by this. I hold Waffle House responsible.

Regardless, we ate there.

Proof.

DAY 3:

Sweet potato pancakes from Nashville's famous Pancake Pantry!

Bookstore!

Daniel with a Dragon!

Some kitties in a storefront. Fun fact: my past four blog entries have included pictures of cats, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

We decided to take a little detour in our trip and head to Greece! Kidding. This thing is IN Nashville. Why? We don't know. It cost $10 to go inside, so we might never know.

This is a picture of me on Daniel's shoulders. Why did I get on Daniel's shoulders to take this picture? The short answer is that I wanted to be taller. The even shorter answer is that 

I lack logic. 

This is our departing picture of Nashville taken with the Nashville filter in Instagram. 

Clever, right?

From here, we went to Knoxville, Tennessee to stay with our phenomenally gorgeous and wonderful friend, Lara. 

Lara and I at Aubrey's (it's a restaurant). 

Look, guys. I love this girl. I love her more than I love black olives and Diet Dr. Pepper. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of this, but she gave us the most intense basket of road trip goodies. I can't even talk about it. It was incredible. From candy to sermon CDs to Star Wars toothbrushes, this girl nailed exactly what we needed. We stayed up talking while Daniel did homework (he already had homework at that point!).

DAY 4:

We left Lara, sadly, and then took this final picture which is an homage to the following picture taken our freshman year of college.

AAAAAAAAAAAW! BABIIIIIIIIIES!

We left Knoxville, armed with Lara's goodies, and traveled the long stretch to Pennsylvania.

This is from a crane machine at a gas station in Virginia. 10 points if you know what this is from. Anyway, this is a testament to how severely out-of-touch this town was.

We finally made it to Carlisle, PA to stay with our good friend Clint.

He lives in a fancy apartment, but he doesn't make you feel like a loser if you don't. 

DAY 5:

We said our goodbyes to Clint and headed for New York City. It was business time. We drove the rest of the way, listening to Ted Talks and getting quietly nervous. 

I want to back-track to a picture I forgot to include from Day 3.

This is Daniel at the Pancake Pantry. I didn't include this picture earlier because I wanted to save it since it is the perfect depiction of exactly how we were feeling the entire time. By the way, to fully understand this, you need to know that when Daniel gets nervous, he yawns.

We loved this trip. We saw three of our favorite people on earth, the ghost of Andrew Jackson, and that guy who wrote the song from The Fox and the Hound 2. We will never forget it, but we were full of nerves and excitement the whole time. It was weird because we so wanted to enjoy our vacation, but I think every morning we were just ready to be there already. 

That Saturday, as we approached Manhattan, our nerves calmed to a simple manic excitement. We were finally here. Just look at this surreal image we took in.

As is the case with most all of these entries, I've gone on way longer than I meant to. This was kind of the equivalent of when your uncle sat you down in the '90s and made you look at his slides from his trip to Boise, Idaho. Sorry about that, but if you have any investment at all in Daniel and I, we just want you to know that we had a blast on that trip and we are having an even greater blast living out this new adventure in New York.

You knew it from the beginning. I'm splitting this entry into two parts. Next time, I'll talk about our new, crazy beautiful life. Get ready.

All Hail the Mighty State

Because of the existence of television series finales, crescendos at the ends of songs, and the whole concept of dessert, I have been led to believe that the last thing in a series of events is the most important. That final impression, good or bad, feels like it can define everything. This rigid belief makes saying goodbye to people very difficult.

As many of you know from my previous blog entry where I may or may not have suggested that I was pregnant as a way to make a different sort of announcement (you can return that crib you bought me...sorry), Daniel and I are moving to New York. We are moving on Tuesday, which means the last couple of weeks have been all about saying goodbye to all of the beautiful people in our lives. 

It's bittersweet. People use that word a lot, and you know what, the only thing I can think of that is bittersweet is dark chocolate which is pretty much awful, so I guess that might not be the right word (Hate all you want, ladies. You know you don't really like eating that stuff either).

On one hand, I am passionate about this adventure. We are doing this for a reason, and I believe in it on principle. Moving somewhere absolutely crazy is the perfect way to force yourself out of your comfort zone. It's still scary though. I mean, imagine how scared baby birds are when their mom tosses them out of the nest without so much as a pamphlet on flying (Is that how birds work?) In time, though, I am positive that Daniel and I will be better people for having done this.

On the other hand, I. LOVE. TEXAS. I do. I remember one time in December 2010 when I was in New York for the semester, I kept Youtubing different versions of the song "Texas Our Texas" while crying over my macbook at a Whole Foods. Besides the fact that it is a fantastic song with riveting lyrics (so wonderful and great...), it reminded me of my alma-alma-alma mater, Helotes Elementary. I remember learning this song in music class and mumbling through that whole "power and worth" part but feeling like the most empowered seven-year-old ever.

I am convinced that I will search high and low and not find anything like Texas. Not only do we have access to Chick-Fil-A, but we basically invented Beyonce. I need not go further, but I will. Whataburger ketchup, HEB, the San Antonio Spurs, Dr. Pepper, Baylor University, Chicken Fried Steak that is bigger than your head, Schlitterbahn, Blue Bell Ice Cream, NASA, Bluebonnets, Selena...

I could go on, but I might burst into tears. The point is, Texas is the reason for some of the greatest things ever. You're welcome, Earth. 

From where else could you send a postcard this amazing?

But easily the best thing about Texas is that some of the greatest people in the world live here, and now we are charged with the difficult task of saying goodbye to them.

It started with a visit to our friends Patrick and John at Camp Lone Star. Not only were we saying goodbye to two incredible friends, but we were also saying goodbye to the place we have loved every summer since Daniel and I were both eight-years-old. It is, and should be, earth-shattering to think about not being there this summer. 

Then followed an assortment of interactions with all of the incredible women in my life. Where else on earth exists such a stellar, gorgeous, and strong collection of women? I defy you to tell me, and don't say the Spice Girls. 

This:

Not as good as THIS:

After that came a going-away party thrown by Daniel's mom which was like the send-off of a king. She collected some of our favorite Texas foods and several of our favorite people under one roof. Everyone was loud and stayed forever, and I loved it. We probably should have just headed off right then, but we were by no means done with our goodbyes.

This week, we've said goodbye to even more friends, and yesterday we had a final lunch with my parents. Don't even get me started on how difficult it is to say goodbye to your parents. The last time I did that was college and even that only required a short car ride south for a visit. 

The most recent goodbye was with the awesome girls that I nanny for. They threw me the most hilarious, sweetest party ever. It involved cupcakes, adorable hand-made signs, and A MILLION presents. Oh, and TONS of jumping.

These girls know how to throw a party!

There are still more goodbyes that we need to make. Honestly, they could not come soon enough, because y'all, goodbyes are hard. They are especially hard because they are an acknowledgement that your relationship has to change. Yes, my hope is to continue on in friendship with all of these amazing people, but there is just such a difference between communicating face-to-face and communicating through pixels and waves. I will do Skype. I will do Facebook. I will do phone calls. But I know that the thing I want most in my relationships is to do life with people.

This blog is called Avoiding Atrophy. In my first entry I talked about this post-college transitional period, and I said, "We could choose to pursue this new life with a boldness and determination that we always dreamed we would or we could sit, lie, wait, and let our muscles atrophy until we don't even resemble human." I still mean that, and even though it is hard, this move is definitely one of my favorite ways to avoid atrophy yet. 

An Announcement

Daniel and I have known for a while now, but we wanted to wait a little bit to go public with it. Like most couples in this time of life, we wanted to be far enough along before announcing it. First, of course, we told our families and then some of our very good friends. Now we are announcing this big life change to the rest of the world. I'm sure you know what I'm getting at, but in case you don't, the following picture basically says it all:

You guessed it!


WE ARE MOVING TO BROOKLYN!

To be explicitly clear, I am not pregnant, but we really are moving to New York. For the record, let me just say that I laughed and laughed and laughed while writing that intro. It took me like an hour to find the perfect picture to use though. It turns out when you google "baby in manhattan", you get this:

Scary as that she-demon might be, I guess she's pretty much me in a nutshell. I'm just a Manhattan Baby with a fiery lizard skull in my stomach ready to take on the world!

Only we won't be living in Manhattan. Like I said, Daniel and I will start off this adventure in Brooklyn, one of New York City's five boroughs. We hope to sublease an apartment in Ditmas Park, and we would use the summer to find a permanent residence. If we get this apartment, we will also be responsible for the tenant's three cats. I imagine they look something like this:

This story is already colorful!

It's a 40 minute commute to midtown, but that's better than my current commute to midtown which, according to google maps, is 1 day and 5 hours.

Anyway, why are we moving to New York City, the "concrete jungle where dreams are made...of"?

Ever since I lived in NYC in the fall of 2010, I have wanted to go back. At that time I was interning at The Martha Stewart Show in the Promotions department. I was sometimes responsible for making Martha say things like this:

I loved working in and around a live television set. I loved being challenged in the greatest ways by the people I was working with. And goodness knows I loved me some Martha. It was here that I decided that I would love to work in television.

I also loved almost everything about New York. I loved the smell of crisp air as I emerged from a rank subway station. I loved the way people walked up escalators. I loved how there were always street fairs and they always had the same weird booth that sold plush blankets with wolves on them. Most of all though, I loved the people. Truly, genuinely, I loved the people of New York.

Knowing my love for this great city, Daniel started looking for opportunities there. And wouldn't you know it...he got accepted into the New York City Teaching Fellows (give this boy a hand!), which means that in the fall, he will be a New York public school teacher. He will also be working towards his Masters. This basically makes him a superhero, right?

Daniel as Quail Man circa 2007

Anyway, we just recently found out about his acceptance. His classes start on May 30th, so we are BUSTING it to get everything ready before then. I'll write more about that process later, I'm sure. 

For now, I'm just happy to get the word out there. I'm sure you can understand that while I'm excited, I pretty much want to throw up all the time. That's just my personality. I'm a nervous wreck. Daniel is a calm pasture. Together, I think we will make it work.

....but prayers are appreciated.

Sleep Confidence

Do you ever have an overwhelming sensation of creative desire? It's where you feel like your pores are just oozing creative juice and you need to find some sort of outlet before it all goes away, so you think of all of the different creative channels you could potentially use.

I could do a dance! No, that's weird. I will paint a portrait! Nope, my artistic abilities have not improved since 2nd grade. Okay...then I will burst forth into the sky as a radiant beam of light, and I will explode like a supernova as I cover the earth with a blanket of glitter and magic!!!!!! Good God...no...that's not even possible.

Is that just me?

I tried to find a picture to describe this sensation, and after 20 minutes, this is the best I could do.

Well, anyway, I feel like that a lot, and it's super frustrating. Despite my great capacity for heightened creative energy, I have severely limited artistic ability (as is evidenced in the following picture I drew of a shark in Draw Something).

And believe it or not, this is one of my better depictions.

When I start to feel creative, I usually decide to write. The problem is that my creative sugar-high usually precedes ideas of what I should actually write about. I know that this energy is only momentary, so I need to take advantage of it while I can. From here on, I start to panic. It's a feeling similar to holding a city's water supply in your hands while frantically searching for a bucket. It's a high-pressure situation, which (like most stressful situations) usually results in an undeserved nap. 

No one in this picture deserves a nap, and neither do I.

I have remedied this anxiety by keeping notes on potential writing topics. Even when my creative juice levels are not spiked, I often think of ideas of what I want to eventually write about. For most of my life an idea would come to me and I would think about how I will write about that later, and then I would think about how later I want to make baked potatoes for dinner, and then I would think about how potatoes are good in so many forms, and then I would think about how good is relative, and then I would think about how I needed to call my relatives, and then I would think about kneading bread, and then I would think about how Jesus said that man should not live by bread alone, and then I would think about how that's written in the Bible, and then I would think about how I had an idea of something to write...and then, by that time, I would have forgotten the thought that spawned these subsequent useless thoughts.

Now that I have an iPhone, though, I have been keeping these ideas in my Notes app. It's quite handy. I've been able to hold onto solid ideas that I would otherwise discard into the recesses of my mind by just typing out what I call "trigger phrases"

Trigger phrases remind me in a shorthand manner of larger concepts that I want to later write about. Usually they work well...when I'm conscious, that is.

The problem comes when I write these trigger phrases in my sleep. Naturally, I keep my phone by my bed in case anything awesome comes to mind, and most nights I end up writing total nonsense. Here are some gems straight from my Notes app:

Grizzly man foxes

Adults talking to babies...remember that time that lady talked to you on the train?

You were an idiot 10 years ago 

And my personal favorite...Ponies - God preparing women for a horse war

Obviously, these phrases are absolutely meaningless. I know this now that I am awake, but at night I suffer from a serious, fatal, and highly-made up condition called Sleep Confidence.

Sleep Confidence allows me to believe that I am the best person ever and that I'm awake enough to be using an iPhone. I somehow find meaning in the words "grizzly man foxes" and I am convinced that I will wake to find coherent statements of genius. 

This video is exactly how I feel with Sleep Confidence.

I wish I could have a discussion with Sleep Confident Christy. Maybe she does have all of the answers. Maybe she is a genius. Maybe "grizzly man foxes" is the answer to world hunger. 

And maybe this kind of confidence is something I should learn to incorporate into my conscious life. To be honest, I spend so much time worrying if my ideas are good enough that I often don't execute them. Sleep Confident Christy can go from a dream where she is giving a tattoo to Amelia Earhart to writing without giving it a second thought. Conscious Christy has this bummer called "reality" constantly holding her back.  

Maybe Sleep Confident Christy will make some kind of Freaky Friday switch with me (as long as I don't have to be Jamie Lee Curtis...or Lindsay Lohan...can I be Shelley Long?). 

INFJ

I am a big fan of personality tests. Whether it's "What Your Fingernails Say About You" or "Which Hunger Games Character Are You Most Like", I am a sucker for self-analysis.

Obviously, I'm Peeta. He's the only one who does normal things. Also, I own that same dress.

One of the only personality tests I have actually deemed legitimate is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Maybe you have taken it, but if not, here is a novice description.

The test is based on four pairs of dichotomies which are:

Extraversion (E) - (I) Introversion
Sensing (S) - (N) Intuition
Thinking (T) - (F) Feeling
Judging (J) - (P) Perception

In each dichotomy, you will display greater characteristics of one over the other. For example, my result is INFJ (more on that later).

This test is frequently used to help determine an optimal career choice for your personality. I once took this in a career counseling office in my freshman year of college. Thank goodness I took career counseling, by the way, or I wouldn't be the thriving business-woman you read about in Forbes all the time. Plus, I got a t-shirt that said "I've got MAJOR problems" which always made people laugh/feel sorry for me because they didn't get the joke.

The most legitimate MBTI tests are taken through a counseling center, but you can also take a mini-version here, if you are interested.

Anyway, I recently retook the test to get some insight into my personality. I originally wrote about the results in my private blog (I know, I know. Two blogs. It must be a sickness), but as I was processing through it, I started to think that these are things I might actually want people to know.

For the general public, I assume the most controversial dichotomy in my results is the fact that I am an introvert. To some, this will come as no surprise because A) they either know me very well or B) they know me in an atmosphere where I am very quiet. To most, this will be a bit of a surprise. I was at a party the other night where I was talking about my introversion and a person said "eeeYEAH RIGHT".

I totally get this reaction. I think, for the most part, I have always been known as highly energetic and conversational, and these things are true. But in the true definition of being an introvert, as in whether I get my energy alone or with people, oh yeah, I'm an introvert. Get away from me.

From here on out, I am just going to copy and paste the entry from my private blog. It's kind of wordy, but you are basically reading my diary, so feel very privileged.


Apparently, INFJs are the most rare personality type in the world. Only 1-3% of the population can be classified as INFJs. Obviously, I like that. I was pissed when my blood type was O+, the most common of all blood types. I was sure I had some O neg running through my veins.

Anyway, here are some pieces of the description by Dr. David Kiersey that resonate with me. This description refers to the INFJ type as "Counselors":

• Although they are happy working at jobs (such as writing) that require solitude and close attention, Counselors do quite well with individuals or groups of people, provided that the personal interactions are not superficial, and that they find some quiet, private time every now and then to recharge their batteries. 
• This is true of me because I am a super functional introvert. I almost always get pre-exhaustion at the very thought of a large party, but I usually always have a great time talking to people. It is true that I'm not really resting unless I am by myself.

• Counselors are both kind and positive in their handling of others; they are great listeners and seem naturally interested in helping people with their personal problems. 
• While I have a great desire for people to know me, I have an even greater desire to know the people in my life. If all of my friends could tell me their MBTI results, I would want to talk for hours about how they feel about it. I sometimes listen at the expense of sharing things about myself, which is something close friends have called to my attention.

• Not usually visible leaders, Counselors prefer to work intensely with those close to them, especially on a one-to-one basis, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes. 
• I've been called a leader before by people because I am sometimes loud and often expressive. In all reality, leadership positions mostly scare me. I have stress dreams about being elected President.

• [Counselors] can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. 
• I have big, fat emotions. Like, I've never really felt a-little-bit-something. I usually experience an emotion in the same way I would experience eating a whole onion in ten seconds. It's pretty extreme. For the most part, only Daniel and my family really understand this about me.

• They have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them. 
• I am so constantly confused by what I am feeling, it's stupid. I feel like I have an immediate sense for others' emotions, but I often have to take tremendous time to evaluate why I feel the way I do. 

• Blessed with vivid imaginations, Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. 
• I am often complimented on my use of language. I am probably best understood through writing.

• Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another's emotions or intentions - good or evil - even before that person is aware of them. Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others' feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor's remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena. 
• Feelings about another person's authenticity are almost blinding to me. I often can't function well around someone who I see as "fake" or "smarmy." It's not about being intimidated, but rather, I am so repelled by their nature that I want to show them no vulnerability. I guess it's self-preservation, but people who think I am quiet are probably people who I absolutely do not trust. 

Other descriptions that interest me:

• They are quite private and typically difficult to understand. 
• I feel like this one hurts me sometimes. There are quite a few people who feel like they know me, but I have a great tendency to retreat into myself, which puts those friends at a loss.

• They may tend to internalize conflict into their bodies, and experience health problems when under a lot of stress. 
• Yep.

• INFJs are rarely at complete peace with themselves - there's always something else they should be doing to improve themselves and the world around them. They believe in constant growth, and don't often take time to revel in their accomplishments. They have strong value systems, and need to live their lives in accordance with what they feel is right. 
• This is basically my daily battle. While I faithfully believe in God's provision for me, I often feel as though I have never accomplished anything. My heart's desire is to create something important, but I constantly fear that I never will. 

Anyway, this is easily the most sensitive information I've shared in this blog. You might question why I even wrote this, and you can rest assured that I am questioning myself in the same way.

I once heard a wise person say that the greatest thing that could ever happen to you is having your worst secret exposed for all the world to see. That way, there would be no hiding, no games. This personality profile is not my biggest secret (I'm not a fool), but it's like I'm peeking behind the corner of my hiding spot. It's at least kind of a good thing, I think.

I would love to hear anyone else's experience with this test, or with any other personality test for that matter. Do you feel like it's legit? Should we be putting that much stock in personality tests? I really don't know. Tell me.

Especially if you have a psychology degree or have taken an upper-level psychology class (entry-level, save your breath).