Friday, September 24, 2010

E and I

Weekend Assignment #337: Lone Wolf, or Part of the Pack?

Some people are happiest when they're part of a group. They may be leader of the pack, or actively contribute to the group's efforts, or simply hang out with the others for companionship, and any scraps they may get. Other people are more the lone wolf type: the explorers, the loners, given to solitary effort and independent thought. Where do you prefer to function in human society: as part of a group, or your own, or in some combination of the two?

Extra Credit: Is there a group with which you're currently affiliated that is especially important to you? What is your relationship with that group?

Myers and Briggs will tell you that I am an extrovert.  I talk with people all day long and you can't shut me up.  I think out loud and sometimes I say too much.  My mother will tell you that I become more introverted every year.  I go to lunch by myself and want the world to shut up and let me read my book.  The last two vacations I have taken were by myself (which the Canadian at Customs refused to believe).

I am probably just moody.

I have more than one pack.  My work community is totally separate from the Library community, which is separate from the Rescue community, which is separate from my high school friends and even they barely mixed with my college friends.

I wouldn't say that one group is more special to me that the others.  I have long felt my identity closely associated with my work.  On the other hand, our new Library is opening in two weeks and that is pretty special.  And the Rescue is adopting out three birds in the next couple of weeks, which is huge.  And I have Girls Night Out with some high school friends tomorrow, which is awesome.

So which is the wolf that wanders from pack to pack?

2 comments:

Karen Funk Blocher said...

From pack to pack - I love it! And there's nothing wrong with taking a vacation solo - except there's nobody to turn to and say, "Hey, look at that!" :)

Stephen Watkins said...

You know, that's why I'm not a fan of Myers-Briggs. Whenever I take it they always say something like "your type doesn't change" as if it's some sort of immutable characteristic of my being. That strikes me as being a tad not true. Your variable personality-type experience is similar to my own.