I've been included in a Minnesota anthology "Under Purple Skies", now available on Amazon!

My second chapbook, "The Second Book of Pearl: The Cats" is now available as either a paper chapbook or as a downloadable item. See below for the Pay Pal link or click on its cover just to the right of the newest blog post to download to your Kindle, iPad, or Nook. Just $3.99 for inspired tales of gin, gambling addiction and inter-feline betrayal.

My first chapbook, I Was Raised to be A Lert is in its third printing and is available both via the PayPal link below and on smashwords! Order one? Download one? It's all for you, baby!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

And If Your Second Toe is Longer Than the Big Toe, It Means You’re the Leader In Your Family

I read somewhere that you could tell if a person was an extrovert or an introvert by where they looked when they were concentrating.

Let’s do a little experiment.

Quickly now! When was the last time you had a really good pastry?

Did you have to think about that? If so, where did you look? Up? Down?

Wait. You didn’t close your eyes, did you? Because now that I think about it, I don’t recall what it means if you close your eyes while thinking.

According to whatever it was I was reading at the time – and with my library, it could be anything from Home Dentistry Saves Money! to 101 Things To Do With Questionable Mushrooms – extroverts look up while seeking answers while introverts look down.

I suspect we all have our methods, our peccadilloes regarding concentration. I have a nephew, for example, who, even as a baby, rubbed his thumb against his first two fingers while searching for an answer.

“Would you like some milk, Liam?”

“Hmm.” Rub rub rub. “Yeh. Yike mewk.”

Anyway, this all came back to mind the other day in yoga. We were working our way into a balancing pose (“place both hands on the floor, rest your ribs on your elbows, and shoot your legs out behind you, allowing them to float up and hover six inches above the floor”) and invited to concentrate on our “drishdi”, a point of intense focus.

And that’s when I noticed that I have a drishdi and that it has been the same all my life: slightly up and to the left. In my world, the answers are just over that hill, just over there to the left.

The answers are just over there.

Turns out I’m an extrovert.

And for some reason, I’ve got a craving for a really good pastry.

30 comments:

Sarah said...

Who would've thought?!

Draea Lael (Rose) said...

Ahhh, that explains sooo much...for me and you!!
<3

mapstew said...

Straight ahead and to the left for me. :¬)

xxx

Cheeseboy said...

I looked up and over... must be an extrovert. A nice pastry does sound good compared to this bowl of wheat Chex I am eating.

Simply Suthern said...

I'm am introvert, big time. Thank goodness the pastries are usually on a table below eye level or I would prolly miss out. That may also explain why I don't ever get the top shelf liqours.

I am now confused. What does that make my kids. Every time I try to communicate with them they just roll their eyes.

ellen abbott said...

I heard that you look in the direction that the memory is stored, which ever little cubby hole you stuck it into.

Unknown said...

I went up and slightly to the right...
That was fun!

Joanie said...

No surprise there! Of course you're an extrovert!

Pearl said...

Simply Suthern, that was pretty good (the kids rolling their eyes). :-)

Oh, and guess what? My computer has been fixed and is back in my loving arms. :-)

Krëg said...

What if one eye goes up and the other goes down? And also the person is foaming at the mouth? And lying on the floor while twitching?

Introvert, probably?

Bossy Betty said...

I am still staring at my toes. What does that mean?

Sam Liu said...

Fascinating post, and it turns out I'm an introvert; I looked down to think about the last time I had a good pastry :) And yes, now I really have a craving for pie. Brilliant :D

Douglas said...

Extroverts are simply introverts avoiding discovery. Or is that vice versa?

Everyday Goddess said...

i'm not an extrovert, but sometimes i play one on my blog.

Snowbrush said...

Maybe the location of "the answers" just means you're right-handed--or even that you live in the Northern Hemisphere.

Notes From ABroad said...

Up and a little to the right ..
I am definitely an extrovert.
Ask the husband ( the introvert known to say ) ... " Why do you have to talk to Every person in the street?"

I cannot remember the last good pastry .. sad to say ..

Lynn said...

Naaaahhhh, Really!???

WrathofDawn said...

Up and to the left. A cranky extrovert, then.

Who needs pie, now.

A cranky, FAT extrovert.

:)

savannah said...

dammit, i kept reading and didn't even think about pastries...but then again, i did eat brownies about 45 minutes ago. xoxoxo

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

I'm a gregarious introvert. I know... it doesn't make any sense at all. Damn... I'm so confused about which pastry to buy.

Anonymous said...

I can remember -- I can remember! It was last Saturday morning at a local outdoor cafe that creates possibly literally orgasmic (though I've never checked) scones of fresh fruit scone stuff and white chocolate. All that and my 2nd toe is longer than my first. This is a good day!

Alexandra said...

How can my toes say I'm an extrovert, when I'm the most introverted in my family? You can't get a word out of me at holidays...

Ricky Shambles said...

Ah, I recall some of my Psychology/Sociology classes and something about when being asked to remember something. Look up and right and you're constructing the memory (lying), look up and left and you're actually remembering. Or vice versa.

p.s. You were already on mine :)

lisahgolden said...

I am screwed when it comes to yoga then. Because I usually fiddle with my hair when I'm concentrating.

Joanna Jenkins said...

What does it mean if you just roll your eyes-- I think I'm in trouble.

jj

Tempo said...

What does it mean when a bloke sticks his tongue right out and twists it around while he'concentrating? My big brother has always done this..I dont think he even realises it, and it really weirds me out.
Glad you informed me what a“drishdi” is..had me thinking there for a few seconds...and you know I dont like thinkin.

Tgoette said...

Wow, I'm an extrovert too! An extrovert hungry for a danish. Fascinating!

Barbara Blundell said...

Alas, my big toe is much longer than the second one ! Always wondered why I've been a lifelong follower. Although my index fingers are longer than the ring fingers and shows that I'm good at counting money .

Indigo Roth said...

Hi Pearl! The police profilers say we always look to the left while remembering - if we look to the right then we're about to lie. I looked slightly up and to the right, so I'm an extrovert liar. As if I needed to tell you. Indigo

Argent said...

All that stuff is hooey, except the stuff which happens to fit what I think, in which case it's divine wwisdom :-). I'm an up-and-to-the-leftie myself. I'm extrovert when I'm with people I know, and introvert with strangers. I also like pie.