Divergent

Yesterday, I spoke about my faction according to the divergent quiz: Candor. But I also said that everything about Candor didn't quite sit well with me. It's taken me a whole year and reading the second book in the DIVERGENT series (INSURGENT) to realise why. I'm divergent!

You'd think I would have come up with that a long time ago, since it's an integral part of the book's premise, but well, yeah...

Unlike the "true Candor," I don't see everything in black and white. In fact, I don't really see any thing in black and white. I believe in truth, but many of those truths are not absolute, as I see them. And even where I see a truth as absolute, I think that others have have every right to believe something different.

A part of me is AMITY.

 It's the Amity in me that fights with black and whiteness of Candor. The Amity in me believes that everyone gets to make their own choices as long as they aren't hurting anyone. Amity is the only faction whose clothes I would (and do regularly) wear. Three of the factions wear neutrals (black, white, gray) and Erudite wears blue, which I despise. That doesn't seem like a big deal, but the clothes represent the belief systems of the factions. And I dress brightly, like Amity, because that's how I (generally) feel and what I want to promote.

 Another big draw for Amity is the appreciation of music and the arts. Well, duh. *looks around writer's blog* Amity, moreso than any other faction, cultivates humanity. And I'm all about humanity, which I suppose, is why my Candor truths are gray, because where people are involved there is no black and white.

 I'm a natural peace-keeper too. It really drains me to see people fight. That's not to say I'm perfect and I don't get emotional and argue as well. But when I'm thinking clearly, the search for peace - or really community - is my second guiding principle.

The Amity celebrity: Professor X. Pretty much the only thing that stops him from being just like Magneto is that he just wants everybody to get along. 

The next strongest faction in my life is Erudite. This is probably the most obvious from the outside. At 30, there are only (approx) 2 years of my life where I haven't been in school in some capacity. I speak 5 languages. I'm certified in all kinds of random stuff that I may never use, like Italian and Event Planning. Other people don't get it when I "just take a class" with no end in sight.

I hate conflict, but my mother always says I should be a lawyer. That's because I like when things are "right". Logically speaking, that is. And sometimes, I argue for the things I believe to be so. But I could never be a lawyer because of the peace-seeking nature, and because I won't go against the truth. The Candor, and the Amity are in conflict with the Erudite, and I think the Erudite in me only shines through when it doesn't conflict or when it's a reflex.

And of course when it comes to answering any problem with an empirical solution, the Erudite mascot is Hermione.

When I think about this combination, I think most writers must be a combination of these three. Obviously, we're Amity, as we love the arts. We are Candor as we search for the truth, and Erudite as we seek and use knowledge. I guess the stories we tell and how we choose to tell them is influenced by which of the 3 shine brightest in us, and if any of the other factions are thrown into the mix as well.