(Best Occupational Category)

You’re a CREATOR

Keywords: Nonconforming, Impulsive, Expressive, Romantic, Intuitive, Sensitive, and Emotional

These original types place a high value on aesthetic qualities and have a great need for self-expression. They enjoy working independently, being creative, using their imagination, and constantly learning something new. Fields of interest are art, drama, music, and writing or places where they can express, assemble, or implement creative ideas.

Creator Occupations:
Suggested careers are Advertising Executive, Architect, Web Designer, Creative Director, Public Relations, Fine or Commercial Artist, Interior Decorator, Lawyer, Librarian, Musician, Reporter, Art Teacher, Broadcaster, Technical Writer, English Teacher, Architect, Photographer, Medical Illustrator, Corporate Trainer, Author, Editor, Landscape Architect, Exhibit Builder, and Package Designer.

Creator Workplaces:
Consider workplaces where you can create and improve beauty and aesthetic qualities. Unstructured, flexible organizations that allow self-expression work best with your free-spirited nature.

(Second Best Occupational Category)

You’re a PERSUADER

Keywords: Witty, Competitive, Sociable, Talkative, Ambitious, Argumentative, and Aggressive

These enterprising types sell, persuade, and lead others. Positions of leadership, power, and status are usually their ultimate goal. Persuasive people like to take financial and interpersonal risks and to participate in competitive activities. They enjoy working with others inside organizations to accomplish goals and achieve economic success.

Thoughts:

After further reflection I concluded that these two personality types are seemingly at odds with each other. One enjoys working independently while the other functions best within an organization. It’s true that there’s always been a struggle for me to find balance between these opposing aspects of my personality. I’ve devoted too much of my life in pursuit of that sweet spot.

There’s a paradox at play in my life. I’ve never been able to live at that happy medium between these two end points, rather I’ve discovered I simultaneously encapsulate both. The problem with this new conclusion is that I often feel rather bipolar in nature. At any given moment I might flip polarity from A and becoming completely B.  The concept of balance remains elusive and, to a certain extent, the idea of compromising has a negative connotation. I don’t want to settle for this mixed, almost watered down, concoction called AB. Perhaps my pessimism is limiting my perception right now and AB can somehow be the best of both worlds, not the least common denominator between the two.

This journey of self-discovery has been a long one for me and it shows no signs of stopping any time soon. It’s an interesting thing to finally become self-aware at the age of 23. Yes, most might consider me incredibly young in comparison but I still feel like I’m a little late to the game and have a lot of catching up to do. I’m no longer the person I once was, that much is certain. However, I haven’t the faintest idea who I’m becoming. I’m grasping for this ethereal “new normal” but I’m not sure I’d recognize it even once I’ve found it. And my search is compounded by the fact that I’m not willing to sit still and wait for the dust to settle so I can find my place. I want to keep moving forward, making progress and gaining momentum.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s not to take color tests lightly, they may expose an entire layer of yourself that you weren’t ready for.

(For the record: I prefer Black, White, Magenta, Purple, Blue and Red.)

Hopefully you’ve caught the metaphor by now. Presently, my life feels comparable to a space shuttle orbiting around in space, preparing to come back down to Earth.

I’ve been thinking about what “coming home” actually entails and at this point I’ve come to the conclusion it’s going to take a whole lot of work! There’s still a ton of things I need to process, both on my own and with the counsel of friends and family. YWAM has a way of drudging up all the crap you thought you’d forgotten or gotten away with and brings it into the light for healing and growth. Recently, growth seems synonymous with stretching and painful. Maybe that’s why the Bible talks about iron sharpening iron? Some sparks gotta fly!

So in preparation of my return I’ve already begun work on my re-integration schedule. I’m looking to ease in to things slowly but surely and with a focus on sustainability. I’ve already learned the hard way that there are plenty of things to do in life but not all of them are beneficial. It’s time to live more intentionally with my efforts and giftings.

And now for something completely random…

Trivial things I’ve missed most:
●    a fast, reliable, available internet connections
●    a decent bed
(doesn’t have to be expensive, just anything better than a $30 mattress)
●    the smell of Bounce fabric sheets on my clean clothes
●    a phone to: call, text, check the time, etc.
●    the combination of a desk and chair at the same time
(possibly the most elusive combo known to man)
●    along the same lines,  a living room or dining room would also be great
●    school classes (this nerd loves to learn!)
●    being able to drive places (yeah, I know I hate driving… but still)

Clarification: one thing you’ll notice is that Mexican food is nowhere to be found on this list, and for good reason, it is NOT trivial!

The context for the title, Continental Shift, is about me processing the changes in environment and culture between Panama and South Africa. I feel like I need a reset before I jump into an entirely different culture. It almost seems like a disservice to my time in Panama since it’ll become eclipsed by my most recent experiences here in South Africa. So what follows are some complaints, funny observations and a few serious points.

Funny things about South Africa:

• Add South Africa to the list of countries who drive on the left (read: wrong) side of the road. It suddenly makes boarding a bus or loading a car a huge chore. And I don’t even want to talk getting on the freeway!
• The electrical outlets are ridiculously huge and don’t actually charge anything. Seriously, it’s like going from Legos to Duplos. Not to mention it took my phone three different attempts to finally charge. I feel like I’m living out the Brian Regan sketch where he says, “It’s fun to fly!” except mine would be,  “I like to plug in things. This is fun! The square goes in the square hole…”
• The beef is always jerky, by default. I suggest small bits and careful chewing.
• There’s separate faucets for hot and cold water. The only reason I can possibly imagine for this is that some people don’t actual have hot water (oh, kinda like Panama!). Regardless, the best method I’ve developed to combat first degree burns involves cupping a full hand of cold water and then adding in some hot until it reaches the desired temperature. Genius, I know.
• The internet is sold by the megabyte here. For example, I bought 100MBs of internet for 30Rand (about $4US). I think it’ll last me about three or four days. So far, so good! Oh, and no companies actually sell monthly contracts, it’s all per use. Although, some sell for hour increments as well. (Those are the places you go to upload photos and watch YouTube!)
• My life is still punctuated by important educational moments in the realm of common sense/life experience. This month’s lesson: a spa is not a hotel at all! For one, everything’s single story. We’re staying in a rondawel (read: bungalow) which feels more like a studio apartment for three people.
• But at least it came fully stocked with food, right?
  For one week of breakfast they gave us three guys:
  2 bags of bread, 6 eggs, a bag of shredded cheese, some bacon, milk and a box of corn flakes.
  But the best part was their recommended week plan: bread with cheese, bread with egg, bread with bacon, etc.
• At least they have some hot water spring swimming pools. I melted in one of those for three hours the other day. That was a nice change of pace!
• The weather is now beautiful but it was ridiculously cold before. I’m finally getting some use out of the inside of my sleeping bag as opposed to the outside that I used in Panama.
• Not having a consistent internet connection causes me to stop and look back at a lot of my offline/draft emails and realize how much I complain about something that ends up improving shortly thereafter.

1. the weather changed
2. I eventually got internet
3. the food is actually pretty good
4. the seminars ended up being great
5. the worship is meaningful
6. the night gatherings at this conferences are better than the mornings
7. I missed out (read: skipped out) on an afternoon evangelism outreach to the local town and missed out on God working in a teammate”s life and also an awesome miracle of a foot growing back.

• But despite all that, God still uses me and gives rest where I’m at.
• I’ve more clearly learned that “in all things, I can praise the Lord.”
• I’ve been told several times that I’ve lost some weight. That’d be encouraging if I actually noticed it too though.
• Switching from the hot/humid summers of Panama to the cold/dry winter weather of South Africa has caused my lips and heels to crack. I suddenly miss humidity!
• I was under the false assumption that I’d have more alone time in South Africa after living in the sanctuary of a church for almost three months in Panama. I guess I’ll have to wait until I’m done with my time in YWAM before I experience some great alone time again.

Honestly, does anybody here even know what’s going on anymore? It’s been a crazy almost-30 days since I first step foot in Panama and I’m still a little disorientated. Nothing illustrated this point better than when I just shared my Google Calendar with my mom and she pointed out that it only has past stuff on it. Yeah. I know! That’s because the only thing I’m semi-sure about is the stuff that’s already happened. That just might be a bit tragic.

(PS. You can now always view my event calendar for my mission trip on my “Missions” page).

So yeah, part of the reason I’ve been so far behind on my favorite pass time, blogging, is that we haven’t been able to look more than 48 hours into the future at any given point! Don’t get me wrong, we’ve definitely been crazy-busy running around Panama this whole time and even had a few chances to help out in very substantial ways. It’s just that there hasn’t been a clearly laid out schedule beyond the first few major events on our checklist.

But to bring you up to speed in a brief/informative way I’ll try and list the highlights:

• Survived a few natural disasters (crazy thunderstorm and two earthquakes)
• Helped clean up the neighbor tribe’s destroyed houses
• Explored the sketchiest areas of Old Panama and Downtown Panama City
• Stayed a pretty sweet hostel for the very first time
• Traveled to the Ngobe Tribe and helped serve with a Medical Team
• Got sick in the “stomach area” for the first time since starting YWAM
• Attended/facilitated the Festival Una Voz as a PhotogenX team
• Optimist side: Lost my wallet / Pessimist side: I’m pretty sure it was stolen
• Renewed my website and email address at: cale@calelivingston.com

Hmm, that list doesn’t seem nearly as cool as the actual experience. I guess, once I go back and flesh out each story, it might sound a little better. I promise to make up for lost time with this whole blogging thing. I even had a good, convicting email convo with James W. about making sure I stay in contact with you guys. I think, so often, I get so sucked into the moment and sort of forget about anyone who isn’t immediately in front of me. What can I say? I’m a guy! haha

But I definitely have to apologize for not being a diligent to communicate regularly with you guys, my support group. I think the biggest lost opportunity has been the fact that you haven’t had any updates on what to pray for for me. That’s certainly been one area I need help with more than ever. There’s been some spiritual attacks against over the last week.  God continues to open my eyes to the fact that everything is, indeed, spiritual and needs to be handled with authority and urgency. Basically put: I’m a soldier in this war irregardless of my choosing, but it’s up to me whether or not I prepare myself for the fight.

With that said, I’m going to save all the big praise and prayer requests for another email newsletter. That way more people can informed, not just you techno-savvy Facebook users.

As I said in my tweets earlier, I feel like I should be some sort of indie artist/homeless person. Let’s just say I won’t get any flak for not shaving my beard any time soon!

Landing in Kona was pretty nice but I was surprised by all the bareness and lava fields. A large majority of the island is sparsely vegetated and mostly black. In hindsight, O’ahu is definitely the most densely populated island of the bunch. The weather was also emo-esque, just for me. There was a blanket of what might very well be volcanic ash but I’m just going to ignorantly assume it was fog/clouds.

I already went through the sign-in process which wasn’t too bad. But I knew I should have transferred my bank funds earlier since I ran into the problem of not being able to withdraw my money right away. I guess I get to leave some work for tomorrow, huh? I also had a quick peek at my room and it’s pretty much a Hume Camp Cabin with a nice kitchen and bathroom attached. There’s also no wifi there yet since the dorms are actually brand new. Again, just leaves something to look forward too. Oh, and my entire 50 person PhotogenX team is staying in these new dorms because our classroom is adjoined on the first floor. Short walk to class, awesome. Long walk to lunch, not so cool. Oh, did I mention that we all have work duties and I inexplicably chose 5:30-7:30am kitchen chores of 3:00-5:00pm outdoors work. It was such a tough call. Only time will tell if I made the right choice. Honestly though, I was leaning towards becoming a “normal” with my sleep schedule and I think this is definitely one way to jump start that effort, for better or worse. And, if you think about it, working outside during the hottest part of the Hawaiian day doesn’t sound very smart.

There’s probably some key points I’m leaving out but I’ll inevitably get back to those…

Lastly, for those of you who know my crush on Survivor: I’ve already made an alliance with some of the girls on my team and I think we’re going to win the first immunity challenge (one the them is really athletic). But I’m not sure who I’d vote off at this point. It actually feels pretty hard now that I think about it. Man, I really need to stop this comparison between missions and reality TV!

And, going back to procrastination, you can’t really do that unless you have something to preoccupy yourself with, right? Well, luckily for me, I just got my new netbook a little bit ago and I’ve been tinkering with it and loading it with all my favorite programs and media. I have to admit, I’m definitely impressed with this little investment! I think it’ll serve be well during my YWAM trip, internet connections not withstanding. I’ve even put it through the course and it’s passed most of my tests. It handles the internet like a champ and I might even try and see if I can’t get Lightroom working on it as well. Honestly, I don’t know how I called myself a photographer before Lightroom. There’s nothing better than being able to handle your entire photo workflow process in one unified program.

On a different note, I’ve really had to ask for forgiveness lately when it comes to my unrealistic expectations. I didn’t realize how much I expect people to have a firm understand of the principles of design. Obviously that’s just not the case though! And yet, somehow, I fell into the trap of setting my bar of expectations at a level so high I could barely reach it. As an artist I think I’ll always struggle with wanting perfection from myself but this was a case of that bleeding over onto other people. But that part that really caught me  was when I realized that’s there’s no possible way people would even know these sort of principles of design that I do. They haven’t had any training, formal or otherwise. It’d be like me, as a teacher, requiring my students to pass a test I haven’t prepared them for.  I really missed the boat, didn’t I?

The good news is, there’s still time. I now feel more empowered to actively teach and equip those around me whether it be in graphic design or any other area of expertise. I think I’ve spent plenty of time giving people fish without ever really teaching them to fish. And the worse part is that doesn’t help either of us in the end. Ahh, I smell co-dependent tendencies!

So that concludes the “personal” portion of this blog.
Now I get to dive into the “rant” section…

First off, directly following in the spirit of the last few paragraphs, this will be a much more educational and productive rant (if there ever was such a thing).

The topic: Facebook.

I’m not exactly happy with the new design change that Facebook underwent. I now have a completely useless and irrelevant “Highlights” column on the right that I can’t even remove if I wanted to. But that’s not really my main point. The thing I really don’t like is the now chaotic “feed” on the homepage. I feel inundated with information now more than ever before. And my problem is I usually try to assimilate all of it. Obviously that’s not healthy either so something has to be cut, but how? Well, I’m glad you asked! It’s a little thing called “Friends Lists.” It’s actually a new feature that rolled out a week or so before Facebook redesigned the whole site. It’s a feature that lets you create a list and add any friends you want to it. Pretty simple, right? Well, the payoff is in the fact that now you can filter down your “feed” by clicked on one of your custom built friends lists. Now, if I only want to see people from Mountain View I can just click on that list and my feed will reveal only people I’ve added to that group. So far I have a group for almost every circle of friends! Without this key feature I probably wouldn’t have lasted more than a few days on the new Facebook. And that’s why I also wanted to share it with you, too. This sort of qualifies as my “trying to teach others” for the day. I hope it all makes sense and is immediately applicable to you. I don’t aim to waste your time, that usually just happens naturally!

Lastly, because of the previously mentioned Lightroom, I’ve really found my passion for photography again. With that said I spent hours cleaning out my old Flickr accounts and bringing them back up to speed. I’ve poured in enough time on the front end to really benefit from it during the rest of my YWAM trip. So be sure to check out some of my photos, too, when you have the chance.

They’re even displayed right over there, on the right side >>>
(maybe up a little higher though)

You can also check out my flickr site directly at flickr.com/photos/kalel559

Amazon.com just confirmed my order and it might be here as soon as Wednesday. I also ordered 2GBs of RAM to upgrade it and a CF memory card reader since I don’t have one. Now I don’t have to plug in my camera directly anymore, yay!

I guess this means I’m really committed to this YWAM trip since I had to sell my car to Israel just to buy this thing. Who would have thought Is would be driving my car, much less, in love with it?! lol

I’m still excited about the whole process gearing up for YWAM. And I have plenty of dumb questions like, “What’s my proof of health insurance and do I even have that?” Yeah, I’m kinda clueless sometimes. Maybe if Facebook had a tab for you to enter in all your health records and bank account statements I could keep everything in one place. Ooh, there could even be a manager for my credit card and social security numbers! (I’m not sure if I’m joking or not though. On one hand that sounds way more practical and easy to use but, on the other hand, it’s only one step away from “the Anti-Christ” as Dad would say.)

In other news:

• I think I’m going to try to see the island a bit more before I leave. We’ll see if that develops or not since I sort of need a driver.
• TJ and I decided that we’d be better friends if we didn’t live together and I think it’s for the best! Sometimes there’s just a bit too much over-exposure to someone when you live with them.
• House of Heroes is an awesome band and I’m really glad I bought their latest album: The End is not the End.
• I also died near downtown Chinatown on Saturday. There were some locals who didn’t like the idea of me being a tourist and taking pictures around them (a block away). Luckily God sent me an angel and she gave me a heads up. Something along the lines of, “Hey, you see those guys over there? They don’t like you taking pictures. They’re going to come over here and beat you up and take your camera. You better start walking up that street.”  Mmm, ok, thanks!
• The pictures turned out great though. A special thanks goes out to Lightroom 2.3 and Andrew Shinn for making that possible!
• Someone told me the other day that Kona is way hotter and has less rain than Honolulu. At first that didn’t sound so bad until they clarified and said it was just as humid. Now I have all the joys of Fresno weather with the one thing it lacks, intense humidity! (Speaking of weather conditions, the sarcasm on that last line should be palpable with an 80% chance of anger on the horizon)
• I’ve maxed out my 8GB Sansa with music and kinda want to get a new one since I’m in such a buying mood these days. Did I mention I made the switch from WMAs to MP3s? Amazon.com gets all the credit for that since the albums I buy online come in that format. I guess I can live with it…
• And lastly, on a more serious note, God has revealed to me that I can’t live in a board game free environment. It’s just not healthy. I need to roll some dice or steal someone’s cards soon or else I’m going to die!

Also, going back to my whole YWAM process, my next step is to send out support letters to all my friends and family. I’m even going to try to but a bit more focus on doing things electronically. Something along the lines of nice letters via email and a link to a PayPal account. I’m not sure if that will help more people out or not but it’s sure less of a burden for me, especially since I don’t have to deal with shipping fees or actual real life paper. I also want to put an emphasis on regular, weekly communication. The goal is to have new pictures and stories every week for people to read about. After all, people aren’t just praying for and supporting me for the short time leading up to my leaving but for the entire journey. I have a few special other features in store too. I think I’ll hold the rest of my hand close to my chest (also saves me an apology if I don’t follow through on them too).

Thanks for reading guys, you’ve been awesome. Don’t forget to tell all your friends and family about my site. Hopefully you can remember my first and last name and the complicated .com as well.

*Yay! Yahoo! w00t! Yippeee! etc…*

But now reality is beginning to sink in, as it usually does, and I’m starting to panic a bit. I was totally fine with the idea of raising some $5,000+ in funds for all the YWAM expenses like travel, room and board. No problem, God will provide, I’m great. That is, until I joined the YWAMconnect.NET online community for my PhotoGenX team. I’m totally camera insecure! People are talking about lenses and tripods and flash and battery and …. *make it stop!*….. *tears*……

I didn’t think the next struggle would be with jealous and insecurity around material things. Honestly, that’s never been a struggle for me, I guess, until now. I think the problem is I originally made the decision to give up all those great camera upgrades this year so I could go on YWAM. So all of my personal funds are going towards financing my trip instead of  the tools and equipment I’ll be using during the trip. Oh the irony! I think God still has a sense of humor.

I want it all! I want the new Canon 5D Mark II with a new flash, extra batteries and a vertical hand grip, along with a netbook or Mac to download all my pictures to. That’s not too much to ask for, right?

*Oh wait, reality…*

Maybe I should find some secret rich benefactors who want nothing more than to shower me with lavish gifts (ok, now I’m just being ridiculous and delusional).

The facts:

It’s still going to be a great trip. I still have a camera and some great lenses. And I’m pretty sure using my camera for one more year won’t be the worst thing that’s happened to me. I need to be grateful for what I’ve got. This whole jealous/rant will pass eventually. In the meantime I need to just keeping praying faithfully for the Lord to provide (something I’m already convinced of spiritually, maybe not-so-much mentally, if that makes any sense?). Seriously, I don’t know why I’m so worried. God was the one who spoke so clearly to me a year ago and lead me out here in the first place. I didn’t even know the first thing about YWAM, like what it stood for (Youth with a Mission). And now I’m here, in Hawaii, three weeks away from starting an epic six month journey around the world (well, at least half… and I bet it’s the better half!) with a whole new group of people.

PS. If anyone seriously wants to buy me some new equipment I can send you the links to amazon.com and b&hphoto.com.

I added my twitter feed to the right sidebar for your viewing enjoyment. I’ll probably use that for little mini-posts and keep these main posts for more substantial purposes. Then again, I haven’t been doing much of them so we’ll see. So far it’s sort of fun to let people know what I’m up to, especially since it’s low key and I don’t have to explain the details. It also untethered me from the computer a bit more which, I think we can all agree, is a good thing.

I’m glad to have this new design, even if it’s still only a temporary fix. I’m still looking into throwing out the system and starting from scratch. I guess you’ll have to bear with me and my creative process as I search for something I’m content with. There’s actually a lot of inspirational designs floating around in my head, I just don’t know how to speak any of the coding languages they’re written in (hmm, that has almost a beautifully poetic feel to it).

As for direction…

I have every good intention to use this blog bi-weekly, if not daily. And you’d think with all the time I spend on the internet I could muster something up for a blog, even if it’s a little one?! If you must know, it’s my perfectionistic personality that keeps me from posting regularly. If I’m not “feeling it” it cannot be forced. And, unfortunately, Facebook has consumed the lion’s share of my time when it comes to outward communication. Perhaps I should be recommending everyone signup there and track me?

This week’s interesting links:

iamsecond
deidox