I have always been interested in personality styles. I believe we can develop a greater empathy for others if we understand how they think and express their emotions. Often we assume people don’t care, aren’t willing, or some other negative thing…without acknowledging differences not just in content but in how we process.
I am a big, big, big processor. When I say “thank you for being my friend” to my friends, I mean it. I verbally process, and I write in a journal, and I make lists, and I do art and music, and I pray, often out loud. I process the heck out of things, and it helps me tremendously. I can’t imagine not being that way.
But I was thinking today there are different types of people in regard to what they do with all they take in. In our “climate” today, I mean spiritually, politically, emotionally, all of us are dealing with a lot. I see people making great choices to pick up their Bible instead of their phone, to eliminate some of their lifeless habits for life-giving ones, and to snap out of the fog in order to live fully awake to the part of God’s story they are meant to be an active part of. I love this so much! I want to do the same.
I came up with four different styles of How People Process…tell me what you think!
A: The Expresser. This is the kind who will likely have to get their detailing thoughts and feelings out with a trusted friend, maybe a blog or Facebook post, photography, art, songwriting, journaling, or something that is shared with at least one person. This is how what they are feeling and thinking gets figured out, and it gets “figured out” pretty quickly because expressing it relieves pressure. Even if the problem still exists, this way of processing helps this type of person feel a greater sense of well-being in the midst of the issue because they have been heard and accepted on a small scale, and that was enough. Their mantra: “I have to express this with my senses in some way.”
B: The Entrepreneur. This is the type of person who creatively expands their mind to devise a big solution, a product that will help a larger scale of people. They start businesses or non-profits to help the causes they care about. They process pain and suffering of their own or others to cultivate environments for change, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Sandy Hook Promise, or Compassion International. This can also be on a smaller scale but it has to do with starting new things as a way to alleviate and work through feelings of sadness and a desire to help. Their mantra: “I have to make something happen!”
C: The Ponderer. The Ponderer keeps things hidden in their heart and mind. They process alone, inside themselves. Not that they never express these thoughts, struggles, and conclusions, but they would do so after that secret and quiet place is ready to be shared. They would share carefully. They may be full of questions, concerns, and things they want to look into regarding the issue, or they may just want to peacefully keep their thoughts about things to themselves. Their mantra: “I have to make time to think about this!”
D: The Bypassers. The Bypasser really doesn’t process at all. They don’t know why others need to, and sometimes, when others process out loud, Bypassers may react in one of two ways. They may react with loud opinions or soundbites they have heard from others, or they may react with frustration that you brought up the issue, as if being “forced” to talk about it made the problem more severe. Bypassers do not plan on working through feelings or possibilities. Their mantra is: “What is there to process?”
Which one are you? 🙂
