A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about INFJ Complexities based on something I saw on Pinterest. It turns out that website is a treasure trove of insightful and hilarious INFJ observations. Here are some of my favorites!
INFJ on Pinterest
Author: Trish
“Courage, My Heart” – Almost My Tattoo
In Greek class last week, Elvira noticed my tattoo and said, “I love that line! It’s from my favorite poem.”
“It’s actually from a children’s book. What poem are you talking about?”
That night she sent me a link to Hermann Hesse’s Steps (originally in German). She says it loses something in the translation, but I think this is SUCH a beautiful poem, and I’ve already practiced writing it out in cursive on multiple sheets of paper. I love its message of hope and endurance and honesty and adventure. Maybe I’ll put “Courage, my heart” on my other wrist. No, I won’t, that is a TERRIBLE idea, but I definitely don’t mind if people think my tattoo is referencing this poem.
As every blossom fades
and all youth sinks into old age,
so every life’s design, each flower of wisdom,
attains its prime and cannot last forever.
The heart must submit itself courageously
to life’s call without a hint of grief,
A magic dwells in each beginning,
protecting us, telling us how to live.High purposed we shall traverse realm on realm,
cleaving to none as to a home,
the world of spirit wishes not to fetter us
but raise us higher, step by step.
Scarce in some safe accustomed sphere of life
have we establish a house, then we grow lax;
only he who is ready to journey forth
can throw old habits off.Maybe death’s hour too will send us out new-born
towards undreamed-lands,
maybe life’s call to us will never find an end
Courage my heart, take leave and fare thee well.
Workout Week #10
THIS WEEK’S GOAL: 20 minutes at least 5 times this week.
GOAL NOT MET
Workout Notes
Isn’t it around now that I ought to have developed a habit!? I worked really hard for eight weeks and now…it’s all falling apart. I guess it’s not surprising, since I am in the middle of a lot of mental and emotional stress. One Greek proverb is: A healthy mind in a healthy body, and I will add the opposite: An unhealthy mind seeks an unhealthy body.
How are there some people who feel stressed and then WANT to work out?
Hm, okay. I still have four more weeks of language classes, so my stress level is unlikely to decrease before then. I’m going to have to think creatively…alright! This week I’m going to focus on walking 10,000+ steps! That seems more likely than actually working out, although of course I will count that if I do.
Food Notes
I did better with food this week than last, but it’s still not great. I’m not regularly keeping track of calories, but I tried to buy healthier foods to snack on. So that’s…good!
And anyway, I wanted to go easier on myself with food. I NEVER want to lose my love of eating, I just want to eat smart and in proportion to how much I’m exercising. Which, granted, is not much. BUT STILL. Food is delicious, and I refuse to punish myself for enjoying it.
But…I’ll try to do better counting calories next week. It really does help me avoid mindlessly snacking.
NEXT WEEK’S GOAL: Walk 10,000+ steps (or workout 20 minutes) at least 5 times.
Sunday Summary #17: What’s On the Internet
Articles
1| Relevant posted a cool article about how we don’t have to be desperate for God…and I really liked it. I hadn’t thought of things in this way before, but I’ll try to from now on.
I know what people mean when they say they’re “desperate for God,” but I don’t think we have to feel that way. “Desperate” describes how someone feels when they’re not sure they’re going to ever get something. People in the desert are desperate for water. People who are lonely are desperate for relationship.
Being desperate for God is what someone feels who doesn’t really know what God has done. They don’t really know who God is for them. They don’t get that they are no longer living in a visitational culture. They are a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
2| There are few things I love more than men getting fed up with rape culture and calling other men to a high standard, so naturally I adore Micah J. Murray for taking a stand against sexual assault.
3| GASP. The universe keeps delivering things I didn’t know I wanted! Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote a book (out in just two months!) about his musical, aptly named: Hamilton the Revolution. #hamiltome
Videos
1| This week I discovered YouTubers PsychoSoprano (Colleen Ballinger) and JoshuaDTV (Joshua Evans). They are funny apart, but they are SO CUTE together. They dated for six years and they made the CUTEST video of their wedding last summer. I cried during their vows, and I have only been aware of their existence for a couple days.
A Week in Greece #4: One Month Anniversary, Feeling Homesick
It’s been a month! I’ve officially stayed in Greece longer than anywhere other than Senegal (this week I passed the Mongolia mark). I’m happy with this milestone – although I’m missing my homes in the United States, there’s nothing about Greece that I actively dislike. It’s a really nice place to live.
As always, my life continues to revolve around my Greek class. I was planning on saying, “Only one more week!” in this post, but on Thursday I talked with Dina and Argyris and we decided I should go ahead and take the Intensive Level II course. It starts immediately after this one ends, and it will be FOUR hours a day, but for only three weeks. I’m already exhausted just thinking about it.
However, if I’m going to continue studying Greek, this is definitely the best option. 1) I will continue to study with Elvira and Emi, and I really like my new friends. 2) It will be taught by Rosa (my teacher the first two weeks) and she is fantastic. 3) I used to think I needed a break to let my knowledge settle, but when I gave myself last weekend off, I wound up forgetting a million things. It’s better, I think, to keep going. 4) I will be done on March 4, which will be when House Damaris renovations will be winding down and furnishings/planning will be winding up! Continue reading
Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel
One of my favorite things about the first Victor Frankenstein book, This Dark Endeavor, was how its adventures and mysticism refused to be categorized as science, faith, or magic. The events that transpired could have been the result of any of the three philosophies, and I really enjoyed wondering what was “true.” That all changed with Such Wicked Intent. There’s no longer any doubt that the supernatural exists, and can be tampered with.
While I’m sad at the loss of ambiguity, I’m also SO INTO the world of the dead that Oppel created. Continue reading
Athens Goes on Strike!
One of the things I miss most about the Midwest is how, out of the blue, all your plans are cancelled and you are forced to spend the day cocooned in your bed with Netflix automatically streaming episode after episode. I am, of course, talking about: snow days!
It turns out Greece has them too, only they are called strikes. Continue reading
Letters Between Friends: FRIENDSHIP MAKES US CRY
Dear Tricia,
I was writing you a letter last night, so proud that I would get it to you early, but then I read it, and it was sooo dull. I make no promises for this one, but topping last night’s would not be hard.
Wineinger life is crazy. We are full swing wedding. T-Minus 23 days! This weekend, a handful of us are going to STL for a bach-ette weekend for Ashley. I can’t tell you what we are doing because it’s a surprise, but I’m sure you’ll see pictures. Then, it’s back to the wedding countdown.
Um, question…what were we like in the youth group? Did I ever make you angry and not want to talk to me? Or to Lisa & I? I remember it being difficult because we were from other schools, but we chatted over AIM and made weekend plans. I’ve been observing our group…figuring out dynamics and analyzing as we talk about bringing this new guy in. (We haven’t picked yet, but we are close, God-willing.) I know there is a difference between 15-year-old Lindsay & Tricia and 20-something Lindsay & Tricia AND this current group.
Friendship is such a weird concept to me. *Sorry, I’m getting really deep this morning.* We kind of talked about this in youth group also. What makes an amazing friendship? The kids said:
- Trust
- Like the same things
- Time
- Know what each other’s thinking or like-mind
This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel
I’ve never been hugely drawn to stories about Frankenstein or his monster, but my librarian friend Kelly suggested I read This Dark Endeavor after I admitted liking Oppel’s book The Nest. Although I may never get into horror movies, I really enjoyed the book!
Oppel gives us Frankenstein’s origin story, and man, is it a good one. It might have been a ridiculous task, creating a believable history for a character who will grow up to be obsessed with immortality to the extent of creating a literal monster. But Oppel does a phenomenal job: teenaged Victor is the twin of his two-minutes older, stronger, faster, wiser brother who also gets the girl. Clearly we have a case of sibling rivalry, although Victor and Konrad also have a lot of affection for each other. The more you love someone, the more you hate them!
When Konrad falls ill soon after they discover a hidden room in their mansion – a room filled with illegal alchemical formulas – Victor becomes obsessed with finding a cure for his twin’s disease…and maybe a cure for death itself. While he’s at it, if cousin Elizabeth decides she’s in love with him instead of Konrad, well, all the better. So many twisted motivations and emotions!
The three-part adventure retrieving alchemical ingredients is really exciting, but I loved the book most for its complex family dynamics and questions of science/faith/magic.
This Dark Endeavor stands alone, but apparently there’s a second book, so I will have to give that one a try too! Continue reading
My Desperate Search for Books in Athens
I mentioned a few days ago that I was struggling with the phase of culture shock where everything unfamiliar feels like a personal attack. Nowhere did I feel this more strongly than in my search for books written in English. I love to read, books are my happy place, when I see them my face goes all wistful, etc etc. But everywhere I went, the titles were maddeningly indecipherable.
Duh, Tricia, you may be thinking. You’re in Greece.
But you’ve forgotten – I’m incredibly privileged, and I expect everything to be available in my mother language!
Which is, you know, selfish. But also true. And anyway, it just felt like a slap to my face every time I saw a book and knew that it’s pages – MY PAGES, MY LOVE – were stories and words and phrases that I would never understand. Street-side book sellers hosted tables full of familiar covers and unfamiliar titles. The center where I volunteer had a bookcase full of Greek books; I pulled out the most basic books for children and wilted with my inability to translate more than one sentence. In a desperate attempt to find normalcy, I returned to Omonia where I had once walked through a bookstore to get to a bathroom. It was made of several rooms, but I found only two bookshelves with English books. There was nothing worth reading, and I left really dejected.
I complained about this to Argyris on Sunday, and an hour later he exclaimed, “Oh! There is a big building at Syntagma, next to the McDonald’s! Public, it’s orange. There are many books there. I’m sure they have some in English.”
“You mean there’s been a bookstore right next to my metro stop, and I’ve ignored it for two weeks??” Continue reading
It Is Trish 