Totally Illogical

"Spock is a main character in the original Star Trek TV series, and one of the most enduring characters from American 1960s television. He is the only alien in the permanent cast: half-Vulcan, half-Human, and serves as the science officer and executive officer of the USS Enterprise, under Captain James T. Kirk. His personal struggle between the Vulcan logical self and his human emotional self is the centerpiece of the character and created some evocative drama." (Wikipedia)

My 9-year-old was to complete a pre-writing assignment for a little half-page paper about a member of her family. She chose to write about me. One of the prompt questions was, "What facial expression is most common for the person?" My daughter's answer: "His face is mostly straight." She did elaborate, though: "He sometimes uses his hands to explain better."

I've gotten the whole "Stoic/Spock" thing from others over the years, but it was so strange to read my child's words describing the phenomenon. Granted, I've never had a very expressive face, which was always a problem when I did summer theater during my high school years (I was a lousy actor), but it's weird to be perceived by others (especially family) as so seemingly unemotional. I just don't think of myself that way.

A month ago, as part of an attempt to continue to learn how my students see me, I asked them to draw me from their perspective (you should have seen some of the drawings), as well as to write down five honest words to describe me. While there were twice the number of positives to negatives (a good thing), the adjectives that surprised me the most were along the lines of the unemotional: "boring," "dull," "monotone," "passionless," and "zone out to la-la land."

Monotone? Passionless? Really?

Part of the challenge (at least with my students) is my dry sense of humor, which few freshmen get the first time; part of it is my INTJ strategist/scientist/mastermind personality type, which I supposedly share with such "notable" figures (among others) as Ayn Rand, William F. Buckley, Isaac Asimov, John Maynard Keynes, Susan B. Anthony, Peter the Great, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Wouldn't we throw a party you'd just love to miss?

Which brings me back to a question I've wrestled with for years: When the Scriptures talk about a glad heart making a cheerful face (Proverbs 15:13), what if you just don't have a face that is all that good a conductor of joy...or, apparently, anything else?