Quiet, Please: Unleashing 'The Power Of Introverts' : NPR

Quiet, Please: Unleashing 'The Power Of Introverts' : NPR:

'via Blog this'

Code in my node

I have a cold this morning. Lots of sneezing. World class...I try to do everything 'world class'. Anyway, back to the subject at hand; colds and how to prevent them. First; don't hang around schools where children are found. I've been doing that for the past week or so. I'm painting a mural on the corridor walls and I only have 200 feet of blank wall left to do. And children love to come and talk to me. And to cough on me. Oh, I'm digressing as usual...so take a look at this webpage where germ killers are displayed.

The Web Urbanist

More Quiet, please

I'm still reading Quiet and enjoying it thoroughly. And I've decided to recommend it to our pastor, Steve. Steve is a great guy, very warm and personable. He's also an ENFP where I'm an INFP. Once every three months he has a class for new members and as part of the class, he offers the MBTI Assessment. He is 'licensed' for this just as I am. While we were taking the class, we didn't bother taking the Assessment, as we had done this more than once. This free time gave me a chance to listen to an Extrovert in action. Like all Extroverts, he really didn't know anything about Introversion and simply rattled off the usual data about us. Ho hum.

If I can get him to read the book, I think he may have his eyes opened. Especially since he is big fan of Rick Warren and the Saddleback Mega Church. The author of Quiet, Susan Cain, visited this church and writes about her experience there. If I tell Steve about that chapter I may have him hooked.    

I started

to read 'Quiet; The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking'. by Susan Cain. A very rewarding book. Sure, it's filled with a lot of things I already knew... instinctively. But it is nice to read this and to be validated.

I'm so confused

As the fight moves to Florida I am struck by the inconsistencies of the candidates. Aren't they all professing Christians? So where in the Bible is it said that you can lie? Is there some exception made for politicians?

What I would like to see...

As the political rhetoric has turned even uglier (and we have month's and month's left in this race) my thoughts turned to PolitiFact, the fact finders for political discourse. They research what has been said and can reach the Truth in a matter of minutes. I've never heard of any PolitiFact decision being overturned. Though some outright lies have been downgraded to 'Pants On Fire', the lowest of the low. And what I really like about PolitiFact is their impartiality; Republican, Democrat or Libertarian, if they lie...they are exposed!
With this great fact checker available, wouldn't it be great, if at a televised news conference, the liars would be expected to defend their lying with facts. Congressman, Senators and Presidents should be forced to do this under penalty of law. Isn't lying by a public official a crime? Well, it should be!

Pain free?

I haven't mentioned the fact that I have been pain and narcotic free for the past five weeks. Which is very odd because I am NOT using the Spinal Cord Stimulator that is implanted in my back. I check its battery every once in awhile but it never changes. What a waste of pain and tears that was! I am still using Gabapentin, a lot of it. And I've been told that I will always need it. My PA and I have decided to try cutting back on the Gabapentin and see what happens. It would be great if I could cut the dosage in half.
Back to the pain or lack thereof...I still get twinges of pain but not enough to warrant a Percocet or Norco. Now here's the odd part; since I had pain constantly for four years, I'm not sure that I like its absence. I'm wary of this new situation and would feel better if everything was back to the way it was. I know, it doesn't make sense but the pain was 'mine' and I knew how to manage it. It was familiar and this new feeling; no pain, is suspicious.
I know that nerves can grow new pathways and perhaps that is part of the explanation for the lack of pain. I guess I should just try getting used to it.

More odds and ends

So here I am in the first few days of the New Year and still trying to get motivated. That’s the same thing I was doing last year or last week. I can report that the garage is slowly evolving into the studio space I want. Unfortunately I do have to include space for the car.

          There’s a members show at the Chico Art Center in February and I really want to have a painting ready for it. But will the studio be ready in time? The last time I had to finish a painting, it was Fall and the temperatures were moderate out on the patio. Not now; it’s in the 30’s in the mornings and low 50’s by afternoon. I really need that studio!

          I’ve been reading a lot. Mostly fiction to keep my mind off of the state of the nation and the world. The two non-fiction epics, 1491 and 1493, were the last serious books read. And great reading!

Before the big move we reduced the size of our library considerably; giving away hundreds of books. But I just looked at the shelf here in the ‘Study’ and I see at least a hundred again. That’s not to mention the half dozen or more from the public library. Why can’t we get rid of some of these books? I just know they will spontaneously multiply if we let them. Like rabbits!

The results are in from Iowa and who won? We all did in a sense as we will no longer have to listen to the likes of Perry and Bachmann. Unfortunately, Jon Huntsman will probably give up the race as well. He is definitely preferable over the likes of the three frontrunners, Romney, Santorum and Paul. Of those three wacko’s, I would like Ron Paul to be the candidate chosen by the GOP. President Obama would win in a landslide! Even if Ron Paul or Santorum force their views onto the official ‘plank’ of the party, President Obama has a win.

I didn’t mention Gingrich. Do I have to? No.

The season of lies is full upon us now. I was listening to the ‘Mitt’ the other day and his attack speech was filled with one lie after another. It’s too bad that PolitiFact isn’t part of television news each night and the lies exposed for all to see.

Oops! I spoke too soon. Perry is back in. You really can’t make up stuff like this.

By the by…I was reading Nance’s blog a few minutes ago and she was writing about, among other things, the Highly Sensitive Person; or HSP. She explains it far better than I but I did take the test and came up with a score of 19 which puts me in the camp of the HSPeople. Or Persons. I was borderline on some of the questions and left them unanswered. (You can take the test here)

Some of the questions resonated with me. For instance; I don’t like loud noise. Any sudden noise will make me jump while those around me remain undisturbed. I don’t like to make or receive calls when anyone else is around. So I don’t. God made the answering machine for a purpose. Television or books; if the action gets nerve wracking I am outta there! I’ll leave the room. Or put the book away, only to approach it cautiously the next time I wish to read it. I’m reading one now and I am reading it three pages at a time! As soon as I feel anxious, down it goes.

Okay, so I’m an INFP Type and a HSP and I have Asperger’s. It all makes sense to me now! But wait…you don’t have Asperger’s as if it were an illness. I may have a cold but I don’t have Asperger’s. It’s just part of who I am. Although, my oldest daughter tells me that I'm simply eccentric. That sounds okay to me as well.