Hakuna Matata

I've noticed that the Myers-Briggs Personality Type has been rearing it's head on Facebook.  This was something very popular in the 90's, with companies actually using the test to determine if they should hire employees. Don't know if any are doing that now since, from what I've gathered, getting employed now requires an internship of working for free to show your worth, rather than just answering a bunch of questions and getting a paycheck.

But I digress.  The test measures your worldview, how you process information, how you make decisions, and what structure you like to have in your life. In the past, I was established as INFP; this means I tend to be introverted over extroverted, use my intuition over the five senses, use feelings over reason, and perception over judgment -- staying open to options, in other words. 

I took the test again this morning, and I am still INFP, and moderately so on all counts.

You can take the "unofficial" test here:
Unofficial Myers-Briggs

What this means is I'm a "Visionary Dreamer."  In case you don't know what that is, here are some examples of Visionaries that were also Dreamers, and how I think they fit me:

Mary, Mother of Jesus.  Don't quite understand that one, and it feels too heavy to take on.
A.A. Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh books:  This definitely fits.  I first fell in love with poetry when I read the poem "The Island" from The World of Christopher Robin, with the fantastic final line:  "There's nobody else in the world, and the world was made for me."  As a child growing up with tons of brothers, this was an amazing concept.

Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of Little House series:  Read all her books as a child. I can still remember so many specific scenes from her books.  Wonderful writer -- I'd say she is probably the first one, besides Milne, that focused me in the area of the written word.
Shakespeare:  I'm an English Major. Nuff said.
Helen Keller:  Well, her name is Helen, too.  But I also like the whole "water" thing -- we have to experience life, not just intellectualize about it.

And for fictional visionary dreamers, my number one pick: Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbes.  I adore Calvin and perhaps will write a separate blog piece about him at some time.  E.T. the extra-terrestrial also makes the list, but that's a little creepy.

If you are into this, here is the link to the famous people:
Famous people for personality types

So what really caught my attention today was this website, which connects each personality type to an animal. 

What animal fits your personality?

This is where I discovered I am a meerkat.  I find this so fascinating, because I never even heard of a meerkat until I saw The Lion King in 1995.  But here I am, a meerkat all along.  Since I have no childhood or young adulthood connection to this animal, I feel like it gives me a new freedom to explore a side of my personality that perhaps I didn't know existed.  At 57, I welcome anything that helps me see my life in new ways.

Seeing as how the most famous meerkat I know is Timon, he is my model now and I don't think I need to study this any further. Having "no worries for the rest of my days"  -- well...I can live with that.
Hakuna Matata from The Lion King