Color TV...Goodie!

Westerner Motel on 2nd Street, Odessa, Texas

There are getting to be fewer and fewer of these old motels, with their 50s style graphics and Southwestern flair. I love them (yet do not particularly want to stay in one in their present condition), but will miss them when they are all gone. Wish I had been interested in photography for a long time and had documented the ones that were here but are gone now. They had so much personality.

Speaking of personality (notice how I did that?) here's a link to take a free (no registration) test to determine your MBTI personality type, a professional personality typing system based originally on Jung's work. There are 72 questions. Don't spend too long thinking about the answer. Your first gut reaction is probably best.

And once you know your type, my favorite site about the different types can be found by beginning here at a summary the 16 MBTI personality types. The first time I read about my type, I almost fell out of my chair. All this craziness that is me is a type? My therapist once said she used typing when she was doing marriage counseling because it enabled her to get to the heart of the conflict quickly.

No matter how many times I've taken the test, on all sorts of sites, I always come up as an ENFP. And the test site above gives my strength of each letter as:

• slightly expressed extravert
  
• slightly expressed intuitive personality
  
• very expressed feeling personality
  
• very expressed perceiving personality

What being an ENFP means most to me is that it's OK to be me. I can improve, but at the core I'm always going to have a basic approach to life that is most natural to me, and certain improvements will be a huge struggle, going against my grain. I'll always be enthusiastic about ideas and new things, disorganized (because I bore quickly), and genuinely interested in people, but with an equal need for alone time. I'm also going to be a tad gushing, sometimes too open for others who are more conservative, a bit of a skimmer of theories, and immersed in living in the moment, ignoring too frequently the adhering to or making of long-term plans.

Typing is an absolutely eye-opening tool for couples and for parents. (Do remember though they say typing young people is less accurate.) Reading about all the types, and in particular the types of your loved ones, you will gain a deeper understanding of the gifts they bring. And it's a little easier to forgive them their quirks that drive you crazy.

And, even better sometimes, to forgive yourself your own quirks.

I would love to know what your personality type is, should you care to share.