Who? Me.

I re-took the Myers-Briggs personality test (thanks, Facebook) yesterday (thanks, free time). Turns out my personality has changed! I am now an INFP. Googling myself, I find I am an idealist and a healer. So far so good. This site has my favorite description:

INFP: The Idealist

The INFP is a dreamy, imaginitive, idealist, capable of finding the good in anything or anyone, even something as foul as Newark, New Jersey. INFPs are sometimes dangerous to the well-being of society as a whole, as they are prone to adopting subversive and destructive ideologies like "The world should be fair," "People should treat one another well," and "You know, 'Friends' is a really, really stupid television show."

These irrational thought patterns may sometimes cause INFPs to run off and join the circus, the Resistance, or the Rebellion, where they tend to do well in any position requiring excellent hand-eye coordination or mastery of the Force.

COMPATIBILITY: INFPs and ISTJs generally exhibit a natural predator/prey relationship, which, though it might appear harsh and cruel from the outside, is all part of the natural cycle of life. In fact, were it not for the predation of the ISTJ, the population of INFPs would soon grow to unsustainable levels, overwhelming the ability of their ecological niche to support them.

Famous idealists include that girl in your sixth-grade homeroom who got the teacher fired for saying that girls aren't good at math; that guy in the cubicle next to yours who got the manager fired for saying that women don't make good employees; and Anais Nin.

Guest writer: John Mayer

No I'm not color blind;
I know the world is black and white.
Try to keep an open mind,
but...I just can't sleep on this tonight.

Stop this train.
I want to get off and go home again.
I can't take the speed it's moving in.
I know I can't,
But honestly, will someone stop this train?

Don't know how else to say it: don't want to see my parents go.
One generation's length away
From fighting life out on my own.

Stop this train.
I want to get off and go home again.
I can't take the speed it's moving in.
I know I can't, but honestly, won't someone stop this train.

Had a talk with my old man,
Said help me understand.
He said turn 68, you'll renegotiate.
Don't stop this train,
Don't for a minute change the place you're in.
Don't think I couldn't ever understand.
I tried my hand,
John, honestly, we'll never stop this train.

Once in a while, when it's good,
It'll feel like it should.
And they're all still around,
And they're still safe and sound,
And you don't miss a thing
'til you cry when you're driving away in the dark...

Singing, Stop this train.
I want to get off and go home again.
I can't take this speed it's moving in.
I know I can't,
Cause now I see I'll never stop this train.

A couple more

Happiness is...

Nicole and Coenn

Daddy and daughters

Look at that little face.

Here I am, in California. The evening is cool and cloudless. I spent the day with my sister and nieces, venturing to Toys-R-Us and trying to imitate Wall-E as precisely as possible. Coenn is beautiful and healthy, out of the NICU and growing fast. Ella is an expert in pirates and dinosaurs, and showers me with compliments as we do puzzles together. "You're really good at this!" She says.

Jason was with me for a week, and is now preparing to move to Virginia for his biochemistry program. He'll be essentially doing the first year of med school. I am so excited for him. His hard work is finally paying off.

I don't know what I did to deserve this life. But thank You. Thank You for the love all over my it. For my beautiful family and friends. For Jason, my oasis of sanity and peace and goodness.

It's funny how in such profound joy, I find my heart a little nervous, pleading, Please don't go away! Please let all this joy stick around!

A lesson in that old spiritual discipline of being-in-the-moment, I suppose. One psychologist I read described mental health as "the ability to relax when all is well."

"The opposite of fear is faith."