The Plutchik Model of Emotions
(I’m not going into the psychology of emotions right now but wanted to share the link for information. I am, however, a bit perturbed that purple embodies disgust.)

Today, after a meeting at work, I was told by a colleague that I was intense and scary. He told me that as I was speaking his knees were literally shaking. I was scary. The first thing that popped out of my mouth was, “You haven’t met my mother.” While I found it funny because I’ve never seen myself as an intense person, and I could think of others who I find intense and never able to relax around them, I started to seriously think outside myself.

What do I do now? Do I start to become a meeker person than I truly am so I become “normal” and more acceptable to people? True, I am passionate about things or people I believe in and will follow that road to a point, not necessarily to the end, as I inadvertently lose interest or become distracted by another passion. I am at odds because some people think I’m too quiet and meek already, so where is this “intensity” coming from?

Maybe I should just go live in the jungle among the trees and monkeys where I belong, eating bananas and swinging on vines.