OUT OF THE BLUE
Yesterday I was paid to write poetry. Indirectly. I was taking part in an Insights Discovery profile seminar after having previously completed an online questionnaire - Insights Preference Evaluator. This whole Insights system was built for professional use based on the personality theories of Carl Jung as begun in his treatise Psychological Types. The system is meant to provide a framework for an understanding of ones self, both strengths and weaknesses, enabling effective strategies for interaction and proactive personal development. As a psych student with overly honed critical skills I was more than a bit skeptical that this tool was going to be incredibly accurate, but to my infinite surprise I was surprised. Here's a snippet from the overview I received of my personal style:
"Charles is interested in seeing possibilities beyond what is currently known, accepted or obvious. Although quiet and reserved, he can articulate well on a subject to which he is devoted. He can be a veritable storehouse of information on the things he knows well and understands. Charles is the conceptual problem solver, intensely intellectual and logical, exhibiting flashes of creative brilliance..."
*cough* I'd continue but then where's the fun of getting to know me better if it's all spelled out, right? It's almost a bit disconcerting that this type of accuracy can be achieved by an evaluation like this. In this evaluation you are also fitted with colors, from sunshine yellow, to earth green, to fiery red, to cool blue - I'm a bluish purplish type of fellow, a "reforming observer".
In some ways I think I may have completed this questionnaire in the same manner that I'd tailor a resume to a position. And I would with all confidence be willing to place this profile on my managers desk and let them congratulate themselves on picking someone who has the perfect profile for my position. I say this because I think that these results are strongly tied to situational circumstances - I'd say I'm much more of a fiery red when I'm playing sports and an orange (yellow/red) when I'm out with friends. That said, my propensity for bluishness (and coolness in particular) is strong, though my red and green aren't far behind. It takes more energy for me to slip into a yellowish type of persona - the extraverted feeling, outgoing, enthusiastic, verbally effusive person, who likes recognition, and is irritated by boredom.
For more information on this personality system check out http://www.insightsworld.com/.
BUT, I digress. During the seminar at which we were presented with our completed profiles, we were first made to write about a "sandcastle" to demonstrate our different communication styles. We were given two minutes. Here's what I came up with:
Cool sand packed in with my hands
Smoothed bucketfuls
Arches reinforced by seashells
A moat that runs to the waters edge
filled and filling the ocean
A corner cracked and crumbled
All strange language
written on the beach's page
A castle left standing
nearby the waves
who with slow tickling fingers
will soon erase
Lyrics, Prose, Poetry, have started once more to flow out from me. Last night I recorded a song with a friend playing guitar. We took turns singing it out, playing with the verses and chords, the tempo and feeling. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and I feel quite happy to have been able to express myself in a different medium. The song's title "A Ship of Days" comes from the first lyric: "A ship of days - sails - to your isle of nights" I liked this odd lyric so much that I immediately went to work writing a song around it. More to follow on that development I do think.
How's this for a post out of the blue?
