Notes
“Um… is this one of those ‘how often do you think about the Roman Empire’ things?” - Jon’s response when I asked him how he’d feel if I started a new blog
My husband is much more private than I am. Please know that everything I write about him and our relationship has been approved by him for publication. Because our kids are too young to truly understand what it means to have their stories online and therefore can’t give consent themselves, Jon serves as their proxy.
I’m Jewish, though Jon isn’t, and I’ll write about raising an interfaith family on this blog. Feel free to ask any questions you might have about Judaism as I understand it, what I believe and how I practice, and how our family is exploring being Jewish/Jew-ish. FYI, Jews don’t proselytize. But I know that a lot of people who find me online don’t know many - or any - Jews and I’m more than happy to explain anything you might wonder about as long as you come in good faith. (No pun intended!)
Raise your hand if you love personality tests. You too? I thought so! I’ve done a lot of them through work and just for fun:
I’m either an ENTJ or an ENFJ, depending on what mood I’m in when I take Meyers-Briggs, which means I’m a visionary and an advocate.
According to the enneagram, I’m a Type 1, an idealist who is rational, principled, and judicial in my behavior and has a desire for justice and equality. That sounds noble, but the list of weaknesses for Type 1s hits me right in the soft “yikes, that sounds familiar” spot.
Gallup’s CliftonStrengths is my favorite of these analyses for professional understanding and growth, but my top five strengths make a lot of sense outside the workplace, too:
Learner
People exceptionally talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve.
Input
People exceptionally talented in the Input theme have a need to collect and archive. They may accumulate information, ideas, artifacts or even relationships.
Individualization
People exceptionally talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how different people can work together productively.
Analytical
People exceptionally talented in the Analytical theme search for reasons and causes. They have the ability to think about all of the factors that might affect a situation.
Responsibility
People exceptionally talented in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.
The Lakota Medicine Wheel:
The Judge (12)
The Visionary (8)
The Warrior (7)
The Humanist (6)