Monday, August 30, 2010

my new favorite song and why I am like a puppy dog

So, a couple of my classmates were talking about their Myers-Briggs profiles this summer, and I took a test. Apparently I am slightly extroverted (which explains a lot and gives me an excuse for my excessive talking and facebook-status-updating); but several of my friends were introverted. In this article: 'Caring for Your Introvert', a rather non-flattering view was given of extroverts:

Extroverts are easy to understand, because extroverts spend so much of their time working out who they are in voluable, and frequently inescapable, interaction with other people. They are as inscrutable as puppy dogs....

(Extroverts don't understand introverts as well as introverts understand extroverts, because introverts keep it to themselves.)

Ok so sometimes I actually do feel like a puppy dog. Again, it is not flattering to think of myself as tirelessly yapping on and on while my introverted friends listen. But the lack of mystery is only one of my shared puppy dog characteristics.

I am like a puppy dog because I feel like everybody should like me. I remember being in college, and meeting a girl in my speech class that had so much in common with me, but who shut herself off to me. And I didn't know why. Was it how I dressed, or how I acted? I don't know.

I also feel like everybody will like me in the future. Do you have a disagreement with me? Well, if we talk it over extensively, we will agree in the end. Or we will become friends again after I ask forgiveness for something.

But I have to learn that I can't come up to just anyone and 'wag my tail' and be 'man/woman's best friend.' There are some people that I won't understand why they are closed to me, or I will understand and I will be sad, because it is sin that I or they won't get rid of.

All this to say, that maybe in this life I won't be able to connect in the way I want to with all the Christians that I love and minister to. And Rich Mullins has a song about that.

Though we're strangers still I love you,
I love you more than the mask...

And Rich goes on to talk about the 'mystic sweet communion' held by believers.

I love Christians.

Disclaimer for this blog: I do listen to other music besides Rich. I just have bad luck w/ Indie music, popular music is all about love and sex and stuff which I have nothing intelligent to say about, and Christian music, well, ok. I gave Christian radio a chance this summer and it was pretty edifying to hear praise to God on my commute. But the only lyric I remember is "I'm not cool but that's ok, my God loves me anyway." As much as that speaks to me personally...
Oh, and "God bless the broken road..." in which I cried one day; but it must have been for an unrelated reason because I'm single and my "broken road" hasn't led me straight to "you" yet.

Back to Rich. Here is my new favorite song.





2 comments:

  1. Hi, Becky. Thanks for reading. Not a very flattering article--seriously? Puppy dogs? I think I "get" introverts and I can even enjoy being around them (I'm even married to an intro-extro hybrid) I just think they are sometimes exhausting to communicate with since it takes so much effort to extract life out of them:) Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a great day!

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  2. Ya I don't think I have any problem with introverts, and that article was a little unreasonable. I've come to understand people's need for alone time and realize that it is not an affront but just a difference in personality. Thank YOU for reading!

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