Well well ... 'INFJ' giving way to 'INFP' ... good news for me ... from my perspective ...

The book that 'changed' me.

The personality type 'test results' you'll find below are From HERE

This is the first time this test has resulted in the 'P' being so strong, edging 'J' almost completely out of the picture. The I, N, and F have always consistently been way high in percentiles with J being less extreme, then edging into P ... and now ... what the heck!

I'm glad to see these popping up in people's social media feeds. There are a variety of free 'MBTI tests' on line - they're all pretty darned accurate and consistent - and surprisingly USEFUL.

Knowing, being able to get a handle on, your own personal style, gives you insights about yourself that you may not have thought about much, or at all for that matter. At least that's how it's been for me. We all are simply a we are, as a general rule. Yet that 'J' always bothered me a little about myself, which the tests have consistently shown over the years ... it was always sort of borderline. 

So, curious me, I'm wondering what has 'changed' in the past couple of years, with that 'J' edging closer to the 'P' end of the scale. Aren't our 'personalities' supposed to be basically cast in concrete? How come mine seems to be changing?

When I stop and analyze it, look at it from where I'm at now, the answer stares me in the face.

I've made some changes in my life, my lifestyle, and my general outlook. 

It was a couple of years ago (2013) that I dropped down to part time at my shift-work job, to begin with. Right about then is when some of my artwork also 'went public' for the first time, not an easy choice and fraught with both anxiety and the antithesis of that anxiety (let them think what they will; until they see it they can't think anything at all, right?). It was a good move as it turned out, and gave me the confidence and determination to follow through on a project that came into my mind at just exactly that time.

And so the Mamm Books happened because I had the time and the energy (from dropping to a more reasonable shift-work schedule) and because the art project morphed into the writing of books.

Last summer (2014) brought another change - a too-long-delayed trip HOME home for me, time off from shift-work, and a further drop in hours there in order to at long last achieve a predictable schedule that I could plan an actual LIFE around. 

Yes it was incredibly expensive ... but quite very necessary. The path I had been on, and at the time not having the internal resources with which to walk such a path without paying an enormous internal price, was taking a dangerous toll. I needed the time I took - to heal and to strengthen both physically and emotionally. In my condition, brought on by my own choice to stick with it no matter what, the struggle almost did me in. It was either give myself a break and a chance or spend at least the equivalent (of the income I was giving up) on therapy and pharmaceuticals I have NO desire to put into my systems.

Until I had been HOME home (the CO Rockies and down in the Arkansas River Valley) for a while and started to feel more and more like my own self, I'd had no real idea of the extent of damage I had been doing to myself.

At any rate, those are the 'changes' that have happened in the past couple of years which are now showing up in the MBTI testing process.

Not only have I given myself permission to not be so VERY strait-laced, I've also done a LOT of research.

*laughing*

I've also 'met' some Characters who don't always follow the straight and narrow path I plan for them in plot lines. 

Writing Mamm of Dunnottar, I realized that Mamm needed a husband if the rest of the books (already written and published!) were going to 'happen'. He had to be from her time, he had to be strong enough to handle Mamm, and he had to have the same values as the rest of the Characters. 

Alaric dropped into my lap from out of the clear blue sky when I skeptically took a 'Which Conqueror Are You?' quiz on line. I'm not exactly 'Conqueror' material and wondered what the heck they were going to be able to come up with for me, the most peaceful and non-competitive person I know. What on earth could I have in common with the Conquerors of our world? I didn't WANT to have anything in common with any of them, to be honest.

Then I met Alaric. And said to myself, 'This is Mamm's mate.'

Little did I know what I was getting myself into. It was akin to finally finding Dunnottar, a fleeting vision from years ago that I kind of assumed wasn't really REAL but turned out to be quite very REAL. Same thing with Alaric. He fit EXACTLY into Mamm's lifespan. Research confirmed that he would indeed be a good match for Mamm, who wasn't about to marry just anybody. 

At first I was tickled pink. Then I realized that this was an actual historic figure here, not totally fictional like the rest of them. I would have to follow the real events of his recorded life. 

Oh my. 

Alaric sacked Rome in 410 CE.

How to reconcile that with the peacefulness of our Characters?

Well, they'd already had to fight more than one battle, were formidable Warriors ... it would be okay ...

And so it was.

Alaric did sack Rome, but all things considered he wasn't mean about it. They opened the gates to him for cryin' out loud - how mean does that sound?

Anyway, the combination of having to stick to an actual course of events while at the same time putting said course into an already existing fictional framework had the effect (in retrospect) of making me figure out how to do it.

Yep.

Then, after I had that whole half of the book's dual story line written, I happened across references to Ataulf that I hadn't paid enough attention to before. 

OOPS.

Had to go back and write him into the story line.

Okay, Ataulf's in there, Mamm's brother who picked up where Alaric left off. We're good to go NOW!

No.

No?

No.

Mamm had to have ANOTHER brother, Waleis.

WHAT!?! 

Are you KIDDING me?

She's already got two much older brothers (besides Ataulf) - one in Albann (Scotland) up in Chattan territory and one in Tarnos of Gaul. Her parents have bloody well LEFT FOR THE FAR WESTERN LANDS and aren't going to come back. Where is this younger brother going to come from, the one who has to take over in Aquitaine after Ataulf gets murdered? The one who later spawns legends as Walther in the Germanic lands? What the heck.

So I had to write in Wally of the West and get him from what would come to be recognized as North America back to the UK and Europe. 

Good Lord.

So yeah, it MADE me HAVE to take myself out of what had become my comfort zone and use the more 'organized' part of my brain because I HAD to get the sequences right - I couldn't just use vague references or flat out make stuff up (although as it turns out what I thought I was 'making up' was not exactly as 'made up' as I thought, but I wrote a whole other book about THAT and am NOT going to elaborate here). Alaric, Ataulf, 'Wally', Stilicho, the Emperors East and West, the battles, the 'situation' of the times ... all are real documented history. Being INFJ (at the time) with that INFP starting to come to the fore, I could not, would not, ignore reality completely just because I happened to be writing fiction.

And this whole long spiel is simply to illustrate how in the world one's 'cast in concrete' personality type can 'change'. It's not so hard to 'get' how the J & P blend - they have to. I had to 'go with the flow' to write in unexpected Characters after the fact, not to mention coping with the stuff the different Characters pulled on me when I thought I had their roles all cut and dried. I also, at the same time, had to follow a darned strict timeline - and get the book done and out when it was supposed to be done and out.

Then the Younglings took the bit in their collective mouth.

Then DANANN, in response to the Hogmanay celebration at Stonehaven and the Fireballs, blew *my* book timeline out of the water and dragged the lot of us ahead with him three thousand years.

To top it off, I suspect J and P in collusion with I, N, and F as being behind my total conviction that Science and God are totally compatible and are in fact one and the same. Linear Logic and Mystic Magic are NOT mutually exclusive, folks. The more we learn the more mystified we become about the stuff we don't know yet, and the more determined we become to keep on searching, only to be baffled by what we find - so we search even harder for both the biggest and the smallest ... and 'round and 'round we go - following PHI because the Spiral is what we have to go by.

And BadaBingBadaBoom as Brooklyn Bill would say.

No wonder my head is spinning and it's a relief to be back full time at that shift-work job.

I kid you not. It's kind of like being on vacation, even though it's really hard work and directly related to having specific goals. Again, the J and the P are 'taking turns' - or something ... At least the INF is absolutely stable and unchanging, thank God. Those three aren't going anywhere. They're still riding at or near the 100% markers. And I'm perfectly fine with that.

INFP

Philosopher - Living in your own ideal world.

You are an idealist. You are loyal to your values and the people who are important to you. You hope you can live in a world which could exactly match your own values. You are very curious about the world. You can always find more possibilities and drive yourself and other people to make these ideas come true. You try to understand other people and help them to maximize their potential. When there is nothing threatening your own values, you are quite flexible and good at accepting other people.

Introversion I or Extroversion E - You can get your energy from where you focus your attention.

You are Introverted Tendency, that is concerned about how the changes of the outer environment influence yourself: concentrate your psychological forces and attention on your inner world, and focus on your inner experience, thinking, idea and emotion. You prefer to think independently and read.

 People different from you are Extroverted Tendency, that concerned about how you influence the outer environment: concentrating your psychological forces and attention on the outer world and communication with other people and like meeting, discussion and chatting.

Sensation S or Intuition N - What will you notice more when you receive and perceive the information from the surrounding world.

You are iNtuition Tendency, that likes abstract theories and principles. You are concerned with the entirety of things and the tendency of change and development. You are concerned about inspiration, imagination and creativity. You like implication, analogy, connections, possibility, inference and prediction.

 People different from you are Sensing Tendency, that are concerned about the detailed information gained through sense perception: things that you see, hear, smell, taste and touch. You notice details and descriptions more. You like to use and develop the skills you already have.

Thinking T Or Feeling F - How do you make decisions.

You are Feeling Tendency, that attaches the most importance to the feelings of yourself and other people. The value and harmony will be your standard for evaluation.You are very sympathetic, kind, friendly and considerate. You always think about how your behavior will effect the feelings of other people.

 People different from you are Thinking Tendency, that pay attention on the logic relationships among things. You like to evaluate and make decisions through objective analysis. You are very rational, objective and fair. You think principles are more important than being flexible.

Judging J or Perceiving P - How do you organize and design life.

You are Perceiving Tendency, that needs to collect more information before you make a decision. So you try to understand and adapt. You focus on process and change your goals based on the information changes. You always allow for unforeseen circumstances in your daily life. You like a loose and free life style, which may be bit disordered.

 People different from you are Judging Tendency, that like to make judgements and decision. You like to make plans and would like to manage, control and drive for the results. You focus on accomplishing the task. In your daily life, you hope your life is organized, step by step and respect the timeline.


 Yep.

That's my analysis for the time being.

Does Mankind 'Create'?

Warning: I'm feeling long-winded again ;) 

The following is a response to a comment in a thread on a post in a Google plus discussion community. The previous comment suggested that people 'create god' by coming up with definitions, and that science and technology, by 'shrinking the unknown', make it less likely that spiritual beliefs are 'real' - to paraphrase.

...

I think you're right about us 'creating' a God or Gods/Goddesses in the sense you're talking about, by trying to define something we can 'sense' but never really with our traditional physical senses. It would be such an individual thing that few would agree except for that intangibility factor. 

Yet the phenomenon (of people defining 'God' to suit their own needs or wants) does seem to be pretty consistent and universal from the ancient times we know about right through our current days.

Science and technology are indeed rapidly shrinking the unknown, making possible what was inconceivable - such exciting times these are in so many ways! The definition of 'impossible' changes almost daily. I see it not as making anything 'less likely' but a journey of discovery that is taking us closer to an understanding, definition if you will, of the world we live in. 

To some of us, the ever-increasing knowledge of interlocking patterns and repetitive design isn't simply a matter of mankind increasing our base of information on which to build even more wonderful advances, to discover even more, although that's exciting enough in its own right - the fact that there's more and more evidence of 'organization' from our very DNA to the universes out there in no way diminishes our faith in Someone powerful enough to have created such wonders for us to discover... rather it reinforces that faith. 

'Discovery' and 'Definition' is not the same as 'Creating' - because we're only just finding things and concepts that already exist, and giving to them names that we humans can relate to. The most creative minds among us do not actually 'create' anything - we just find and use what is already there, pre-existing. Energy, raw materials, accessing and honing the intellects of our minds - curiosity - the whatever it is that drives us to search, to discover, to experiment ... to define ... 

Keep in mind that I'm not talking about any particular 'religion' here - those are all 'definitions', exactly as you say - science and technology add another 'definition' to the mix ... atheists likewise ... IMO none of us can point at any of the others and say,'You're wrong.' At this point in time none of us KNOWS. None of us. We WANT to know, but as of right now we do not.

We've got our physical world to explore; our intellectual selves to challenge, and our inner selves to sustain and drive the others. Again, just my opinion. All three are parts of the whole, so entwined and interconnected that they cannot be separated without harming or destroying the whole.

If your mind is dead, your body becomes essentially useless. If your body dies, your mind dies with it. If your spirit, your will to continue, goes ... both mind and body are affected.

Yep. And this is what happens when an INFJ tries to communicate. Thank your lucky stars you can just click out of it at will.  :)  

These Words Are For You: Help Them

These words are for you:

If you’re reading this it’s because you’re supposed to be reading it.

Half of Syria’s civilians have left their homes for a good reason. Almost half of those have left their country for a good reason.

Help them. Help those who are still there to get out.

I tell you: get the civilians out of there because wrath will rain down on that place.

Women, children, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents … get them out of there, all who wish to go.

Yes I know how many are already doing everything they can; and no I’m not some crazy nut. I’m a little old gramma lady in the middle of nowhere who cannot herself go and help, who cannot even contribute but with my Voice.

People who are abusing this situation for your own gain, stop it. Help them; just help them.

People who are able to help but are not, stop dicking around about it and pitch in.

People who are fretting about terrorists coming among us, cut it out already. These are families who are FLEEING terrorism. Do you really think they’re on the side of those from whom they flee? Get real.

From around the globe come the pleas of people like me, for those who can get innocent civilians out of a war zone to do so and to do it quickly. So many have already come out; so many more remain in danger.

If I had the means … alas I do not … perhaps you do … perhaps you will be the one to find a way to help one of those families, just one of them.

And I weep.

I weep for them, and for a world which has allowed such things to come into being.

I weep for Russia.

I weep for the United States.

I weep for China.

I weep for Germany who cannot alone stem this tide. I weep for those who are helping, overwhelmed at every turn.

I weep for Europe.

I weep.

Not that it does any good for me to weep. My tears will not put food into a child’s belly. It will not ease the heart of a mother who fears for her family.

If I’m this affected from so great a distance, how must those be affected who are in the midst of it all?

Already the tide begins to turn; it is in the very air of our world.

‘Hurry, hurry,’ comes the message, through me to you. ‘Help them, help them. Get them out of there.’

If that place is to run red, let it not be with civilian blood, let it not be innocent blood that runs. 

Hurry, hurry. Russia, China, United States, Europe … all who are already pushed to the limit, bear up for a little longer … help is coming.

Can you not feel the rising of the wind? Can you not sense the turning of the tide? Can you not hear the coming of a whirlwind? Can you not see into the hearts of the people of our world, the compassion fused with outrage?

Yes.

If you are reading this, yes you can feel, sense, hear, and see.

If you are reading this and happen to be INFJ, turn not away from the winds that now ride the air, nor from the tides that would overwhelm you, nor from the sound of the whirling wind, nor from the sight of our hearts. Instead, embrace it all, let it pass through you strengthened and send it back out again. Yes I know it hurts. But it passes as it needs to.

Help them.

Get them out of there.

These people too have roles to play in the future of our world; this fragmented nation of civilians in flight from their own homeland, at the mercy of our bigger world.

Show mercy.

Help them.

Hurry.

Uffda. From whence come these words? I cannot help but think they are not entirely mine own. They belong to all of us I think. 

9-11 This Year Is A Little Different - INFJ Asks WHY?

Every year just before this day ... 9-11 ... people begin remembering ... call me crazy if you choose but raw emotion in others really does affect me. By now I of course have come to expect it and can sort of kind of prepare as best I can for the 'onslaught'. And yes I am fully aware of the fact that to 98% of the world it sounds like utter drivel. I'm okay with that even if you aren't.

No other event anniversary is anything like this one. 

This is the only day of the year I actually find the self-centered 'It's all about me' people who yammer on Facebook about the most inane things of their little lives (important to them, of course, but generally only irritating for me to hear about constantly) a welcome relief.

While the rest of the world mourns our losses, remembering fresh the events and the unholy impact of that day and of others since, these few remain cocooned in their own little things, and I'm shocked to find myself relieved at those little bits of selfish trivia. 

The power of the emotions of our world, which ought to sear my soul with pain, is surprising me this year. Yes the pain is there - it will always be - but somehow this year it's got a different feel to it. 

This year it's under-laid and overlaid with something else. It took me a bit to figure out what it is. It's got the same sort of tone to it that roared that day - through the pain and shock and grief was American determination, united for once across all barriers. On that day we were simply and completely Americans. Race, religion, gender, life choices, whatever irks us about one another ... on that day they flat out didn't matter. On that day the United States had no hyphens.

Today's sensation, not last night's but today's, bears that same sort of feeling. I think the difference is that it's not just the United States this time. 

Overwhelmingly, I feel from the entire world that strength. Perhaps it's the trigger of 9-11 that brings an awareness of it, I don't know - but I feel the strength building I surely do. As this day advances, people are remembering, and they're thinking not only of 9-11-2001 but of today as well. They're remembering and thinking not only of the Twin Towers but of other places as well.

And, you know, there's not a whole lot of fear in there, not overall. There's rage, but the rage isn't hot and burning. It's cold and deadly and very very dominant. Not unreasoning rage because there's plenty of reason for it. It's as though we're all, all of us, coming to a decision about something. With the steadiness of purpose comes that feeling of strength.

Oh, I'm not explaining this very well and I know it. I'm not sure I CAN find the words for it. But sure as sure can be today is different from the other years. 

I'm getting a calm feeling, coming from all over. Not because people have forgotten but because they haven't. Not because they don't care but because they do care - in some kind of whole new way. Russia, China, Africa, South America, Europe, oh Canada's heart is stern and almost harsh in it's emotion, India, Australia, the British Isles have steel in their eyes on this day, and in their backs, the Isles of the world on this day are steady on, Scandinavia I think feels her power, the might of her ancestors rising ... and I smile inside of myself because We the People of the United States, if we have any sensing of our greater world, are going to soon become aware of our place in the circle of it, if we aren't already.

And no, not ALL are a part of this bigger stronger circle, but we are enough. We are enough. From all around our globe of a world comes this sensation, like a glow of some kind. It is countered, yes - challenged. But is by far the most dominant feeling I'm getting from this day.

For the 98% who think me daft I will grant that perhaps it's no more than wishful dreaming on my part. If dream it is, it is one of such authority that I could not say it nay if I wanted to. Believe me, it is not what I expected to find on this day, but here it is - full-fledged and rising. It will be opposed but it will not fail. It will not fail.

Science and Mythology - WHOA!

As Ullin of Iona is so fond of saying, 'The wheel goes 'round and 'round.'

Then there's this:

And that wheel it just keeps on spinning, doesn't it? The Spiral continues and the PHI symbol has a line through it. You might call it a stringed instrument.

I am not a scientist nor a mathematician nor a physicist nor a computer expert but I can figure out the significance of some interesting lines of thought and investigation that others are working on ... and our Characters are going to be taking us on quite a ride coming up pretty soon here.

Not tonight. Tonight I'm way too tired to begin writing about Mystery and such. I'm going to sleep on it tonight, and let it incubate tomorrow while I see what color chokecherries will dye cotton, and the next day while I put blueberries to good use making some really pretty purple fabric. 

In between tending to vats of dyes, some pretty strange Short Stories are liable to surface, mm-hmm. They all fit together but are going to come in random order as my mind goes about sorting and filing things in its very own INFJ/P 'round and 'round way. It's got some very new technical stuff to digest and get integrated into some very ancient mystical stuff.

Watch for the collection of Short Stories; they're going to come out first and will serve two purposes:

1)  tell a few Stories about the Characters we already know, and

2)  lay a bit of a foundation for what's coming up in the next set of books

I'm hoping for a good night's sleep, believe me. The next few days are going to be busier than heck!

Assuming I don't fall off my roof when I go up there to fix what that wind storm did to it the other day.

photo of universe: universe-ig271_messier81_02-img42 google search 'universe images'

I'm INFJ And Someone Told Me To Tell A Lie

And I almost fainted.

Are you kidding me?

You want me to do WHAT?

Yep, you're going to go tell so and so such and such.

Well now.

In the first place, so and so, not being dim-witted, and having been right there when such and such was supposed to have occurred, isn't likely to believe any such lie.

Me being me, and having respect, admiration, and trust in the person who was telling me that I had to go tell this lie, took myself to the person I was supposed  to lie to.

Me being me, which means INFJ, did it my own way.

Of course I announced ahead of time that I was going to tell a lie, and then I told it.

Nobody told me I couldn't confess ahead of time.

Really.

What did they expect?

The person I was supposed to lie to just so happens to be another person whom I respect, admire, and trust - and have for a very long time - who also just so happens to know me quite very well.

It was a strange and awkward position to have been put into out of the clear blue sky.

Even so, I did tell the lie.

Then I told the truth, which is most generally a lot more effective and efficient, anyway.

The path was there and I took it.

UPDATED : 'Quack You. You Forgot Something.'

Some of you will recognize these. I finally got around to putting them together.

You Want My Weapons? 

Start with this one.

"This is an account of a dream I had some time back; I’m only just now getting around to putting it down, but it’s one of those memorable ones, and kind of funny in a sad sort of way. 

Anyway, in the dream I’m basically my own self, a little old gramma lady. 

I’m just getting home from somewhere and ready to turn my key in the lock when a couple of official-looking men in suits step into my front porch behind me.

I look around, smile and say hello, ask if I can help them with anything.

They don’t smile back. 

They ask me who I am, so I tell them.  They ask me if I live here and of course, as I’m in the middle of unlocking my front door, I say yes, a little confused but what the heck, may as well be polite.

‘Ma’am, according to our records you own a weapon.  As you know, all weapons have been required to be seized by our agency.  We would like you to turn your weapon over to us.’

Now I get it.  I understand who and what they are and what they want.  I admit it gets on my nerves a little. 

‘I’ll hand it over as soon as I’m done using it, okay?’

Now they’re the ones who are a little confused. 

I finish turning my key in the lock, then turn quickly to the one closest to me and have that key snugged up just under one of his ears alongside of his neck before he can react. 

Putting a little pressure on, just because I want to, I say, ‘Okay, you can have this one, for starters.’

The poor guy is still too startled to resist when I smile and put the key into his hand. 

‘Come on in.  I hope you aren’t in a hurry, because I have a lot of weapons in my home.’

They follow me inside, not saying anything. 

‘Now, let’s see … where should I start?’ 

I head back to my antique kitchen and start gathering up all my cast iron skillets.  When I’ve got as much as I can carry I tote them on out and set them beside the curb at the street.

Then I go back for my collection of rolling pins. 

Opening the cupboard doors I start pulling out all the canned goods. 

‘Ma’am, what are you doing?’

‘I’m giving you guys all my weapons, what does it look like I’m doing?’

Handing each of them a bunch of cans, as they may as well be making themselves useful, I tell them to carry them out to the curb. 

I imagine they’re still too shocked to refuse.

When we pass each other, one manages to find his voice and protests, ‘Ma’am, these aren’t weapons.’

I give him a big grin and say, ‘Wanna bet?’

Then I throw one of the cans I’m carrying as hard as I can against the wall across the room, where it duly makes a big old dent and loosens the plaster so it falls on the floor and leaves a hole in the wall. 

I think that gets their attention. 

Because most everything in either of my kitchens can be used as a weapon, we cleaned them out. 

Then I made them help me get the appliances out, both the antique cookstove and the modern electric one (from the new kitchen) because, well, you know hot things can really cause some serious burns and all that, and freezers and refrigerators can give a person frostbite if they should happen to get locked in there. 

Then out go all the dressers in the house because, gee whiz, a person could slam someone’s fingers in them and disable that someone, right? 

Bedding and clothes, because how easy would it be to smother or strangle someone with them? 

Mattresses and box springs go out by the curb as well, because they have dangerous things in them like metal coils. 

Bed frames are a no-brainer because you could take those metal rails, and/or the headboards and footboards, to brain somebody. 

I notice one of them on his phone and tell him, ‘Yeah, backup is a good idea – better tell them to bring a couple of big trucks; that pile of weapons out there is getting pretty big and the neighbors might complain if we don’t get it all out of here right quick.’

They’re thoroughly bemused and completely confused by now but I’m relentless. 

When we get to my studio, everything in there goes out to the curb too, because everything is a potential weapon. 

When we get down to the bare walls, I go out to the curb and rummage around until I find a pry bar and a hammer, go back into the house and begin whopping at the walls, pulling off plaster and yanking out lath and 2x4, turning on them as though I’m going to whop them or poke them with those pieces of wood with all those nails poking out of them. 

They kind of fall back and let me alone. 

When I have a big enough opening, I start pulling out the wiring. 

‘You can’t do that, ma’am; it’s dangerous.  That wiring could kill you.’

‘Yep.  It’s a weapon, ain’t it?’

When I’ve pulled out a bunch of wiring, enough to make them really nervous, I start on the plumbing. 

When I break a piece of PVC pipe loose, it’s got sharp points and I aim it at one of them like I’m going to skewer him.  He kind of cringes back some and I laugh. 

I lug it all out to the curb, then sit and rest for a minute on my front steps. 

I’m eyeballing them like they’re snakes and tell them, ‘I’ve made a good beginning, but if you want me to surrender all of my weapons, you’re going to have to get some help.  You’ll need some heavy equipment to get this all done, so you’d best be making your phone calls and getting to it.  I’ll surrender all my weapons but, you know, I’m just a little old gramma lady and I’m old and fragile while you two are young and agile, so I’m gonna just sit here and supervise while you confiscate all the weapons on my property.

When you get the house and cellar and fence all carted away, you’re gonna have to cut down all these trees, because if you don’t take them away from here I’m liable to make myself some bows and arrows and spears and such out of them.  Those ash branches make awesome shillelaghs, you know.  Better take the roots too because those suckers are tough and if I took it into my head to bean you with one of them you might not wake up until next week some time.’

And then I woke up laughing.

Remembering the dream, I stopped laughing and started getting a little mad.

I’m INFJ, remember?

Obviously what had been on my mind was all the brouhaha about the second amendment and how in some places people were taking in weapons to voluntarily surrender them, because they’re convinced it’s the right thing to do, and how in other places people are outraged at the very idea of such a thing happening in this country. 

One section of my mind circles around and around that old saying ‘Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile’.

I picture that little old gramma lady in my dream, standing buck nekkid on the barren earth of her home, because even the holes had been filled in (someone might fall in them and hurt themselves).

I remember researching the history of the Ukraine.  I remember researching the history of the Germans from Russia. I remember learning about WWII.

My mind is an entertaining place to visit, absolutely true. 

Everything in there bops around seemingly at random, pops up in strange and unexpected places, and flits about until it finds a place to fit.

Then when it finds that place to light, it sends out tentacles or some such in search of other bits and pieces that might also fit and make the picture of this weird puzzle a little more interesting. 

All on its own, mind you – it’s not like I’m in there actively orchestrating the whole thing. 

Are you nuts?  I couldn’t do it if my life depended on it, not on purpose, that’s for sure!

It’s just the way the thoughts zing around in there even when I’m technically focusing on something totally different that demands my attention and concentration.

You just never know what’s going to pop to the surface at any given time.

See, this is how come INFJs get labeled weird/crazy/odd/out there somewhere/etc. etc. etc. ad infinitum ad nauseum.

That’s why you don’t want to be asking us what’s on our mind just randomly out of the blue; you never know what you’re going to get.

That thing on Facebook, where it DOES ask you what’s on your mind – pretty darned risky question should we ever decide to actually go with what might be on our mind at any given time. 

Well, that was a little detour off the point, wasn’t it?

At any rate, another section of my mind is circling around yet another bit of data – namely the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Because that’s what I do, that’s how my mind functions, the thoughts and ideas circle and circle and pick up other bits of thoughts and ideas along the way. 

And one of the thoughts it picks up along the way is that thing about giving them an inch. 

I have an abiding fear that we have given up that inch and are in dire danger of looking the other way while the mile is getting eaten up. 

Sigh.

Having such an imaginative mind can be daunting. 

Sometimes it’s really not a lot of fun.

Sometimes I have really weird dreams, too."

Epilogue

The little old lady stands stark naked on the smooth dirt beneath her feet where her home stood not so very long ago. She stares up at a little white puff of a cloud in the blue blue sky and smiles.

Humming a fragment of a song even more ancient than she is, she straightens her back, tilts her head a little as though listening, lifts her chin, and strides across the dirt, leaving the prints of her small feet in her wake.

To the northwest corner of what had been her yard she strides.

Once there, still humming, she kneels and pokes a slender forefinger into the dirt.

Smiling at the little hole it makes, the naked little old lady pokes another hole in the dirt, and then another and another.

A pattern emerges and she steps back to gaze on it for a moment before continuing with her solitary task.

Along the property line she makes her way, creating her pattern as she goes.

After several passes she stops again and stands gazing at what she has wrought.

Standing as still as still can be she looks and looks at the design she has made in the smooth bare dirt of what was her yard.

The humming becomes louder as tears fill her eyes, course her face, and drop to the smooth bare dirt at her feet.

As she stands weeping, her right hand moves to rest over her heart and she feels the pulsing there beneath her slim fingers.

Alone and still motionless she begins to Sing.

As the Song progresses her Voice becomes stronger, louder, until her very heart is racing beneath her fingers.

'Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?'

As she sinks to the earth with the last notes of the Song on her lips, she murmurs, 'Quack you. You forgot something.'

And the Stars and Stripes that she has created in the bare dirt of what had been her home waver a little, as though touched by a breeze, through her tears.

'You forgot to take my Voice, and my Spirit.'

And the little old lady, naked, kneels where she is and prays.

2015  10  01  0245

A couple of decades ago I owned a rifle. It wasn't a fancy rifle but it fit me well and suited me just fine. Then I gave it away to someone who needed it more than I did. Years after that and years before now I bought a pellet rifle, mainly because it looks enough like a 'real' one from a distance to make people think it was real. Never used it even once. 

I haven't been real big on having an actual 'weapon' for myself. I'm still not, truth be told. While choosing to remain unarmed myself, I've never had a problem with the many (many) friends and relatives who own and use firearms. We live with hunting and fishing. Owning a rifle or shotgun is about like owning a fishing pole. (Yes, I do own a fishing pole. Bought it two or three years ago and it's still in its package.) Handguns, that's a little different but I still have never had a problem with those who want them. Target shooting isn't uncommon - and with things being the way they're becoming, I'm glad and more than a little relieved to know there are so many people around who carry. I just never really wanted to arm myself, knives excluded. I appreciate a good knife. You can use them to cut up fruits and vegetables and such, and they don't take up much space no matter where I happen to keep them.

However, not too long ago a situation developed that had the potential to turn into something lethal. I learned a long time ago that if somebody says something about shooting someone you don't want to laugh it off and assume they're joking. Maybe they are, but maybe they aren't. Better to err on the side of safety, sez I. At any rate, the situation got de-fused without any shooting.

It did, however, reveal several different reactions to the threat.

Some people really did laugh it off.

Some people said, 'Well, nothing's happened yet, we don't know if they even have a gun,' and blew it off.

Some people went out and bought themselves guns.

Me, I wrote a statement for the police and so did several others. I have good cause to believe in the effectiveness of good officers, I do. They've saved my life literally, and had my back frequently.

I figure an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

Now, I wasn't there when the potential shooter was confronted with news of the statements of some of us (and possibly that guns had been acquired by others) and I can't really actually read the minds of other people, but the fact is that nobody got shot. 

Whether as a result of an exceptional police officer doing his job extremely well, the probability of prosecution for making such threats, or the fact that somebody might actually shoot back ... nobody got shot. A tragedy averted makes no dead bodies. 

What all was going through the mind of our potential shooter I can't say for sure. What I am sure of is that if you tell someone that 1) it's not okay to make threats to shoot somebody, and 2) the police are going to look for you and find you if you do, and 3) if by chance you really do try to shoot somebody you're likely to be summarily shot your own self ... that someone is liable to shut up and sit down (or better yet just go away) and not shoot anybody.

An ounce of prevention.

Extrapolate.