strengths ...

I am in my strength when I can bring out my thoughts onto paper. I get this excited feeling when I can exhale. I love being able to learn new things and then simplifying them. It is my way of mentoring. I love words so much that I have favorites and not so favorites. Even though I studied to become an English teacher, I am not hung up on being a perfectionist. I am not the best at speaking, but when I am asked a question I make it simple for them to understand. I am also tenacious enough to keep trying to find a way for them to understand. I would rather have them find success in learning something new for them than for them to have perfect grammar or spelling.

I love language and accents. I am always listening for the differences of the Brits and Aussies - even the South Africans make it hard to tell what land they come from. Accents and language is a history lesson of that person. Also listening to some one's story or how they learn intrigue me. It is exciting! Empathy is a strength for me even though it can be weighty. I strive for balance so that I can still be filled by it.

Creativity and color is something I could not live without. I find learning and expression in it. Even without acceptable resources I try to organize things. Even though I might find it hard press to say organization is my strength, it does feed my creativity. It makes me feel free. I have limited space and I like to surround myself with small things. So if being able to organize and de-clutter a limited space maybe one day I must might graduate to a bigger small space that would better suit my writing and craft fetish.

I love pictures, visuals, and word pictures. I learn best this way. Hard to forget when a picture is engraved in my brain. When I am writing I love to create my own word pictures. That way I can remember a moment that took my breathe away. With any story I can pick up on motifs and symbolism quickly and love to use it in things I write. I love to take it to real life and listen for motifs in some one's own story. Our lives are always about patterns and the full circle affect. It is about getting a person or getting a lesson learned and connecting to my own life.

I love maps because it is visual. I love reading them and going there. I describe my learning process as maps. It starts out with stick lines and each time I visit it fleshes out becoming more and more. It is connecting the dots. I use mapping in my life to start a project or to clarify what I am learning to better grasp the thing I want to keep. I like the bare bones of a concept or an issue. It makes it easy. I like to share maps with others. I will not tell you directions with just words. Give me a piece of paper and a pen. Again it is pictures! I just know you will get my directions if it is on paper than just my words floating around in your head. It is concrete! Maps excite me.

I feed on encouragement. Tell me that I am doing a good job and I will bend over backwards to do better. Encouragement stirs up the happy. It gives me the extra push. I like encouraging others. Encouraging someone means I have to listen for their dreams and their passions. This is important for me to identify because I loathe confrontation and have always had an issue with criticism. I know the need to take care of the discomforts of a relationship but I hate fighting. I would rather 'fight' for a working and winning solution for both parties not to tear down others or to be tore down myself. I am a team player and encouraging allows for the best of you and I.

Here are my strengths...