I believe that organization is what I do best. Looking at a complex set of data or tasks and organizing it into something that is manageable either to understand better or accomplish in a more efficient way.

Had to think about this for a while. But, I think one of my strengths is that I am a creative thinker. I look at an object, an idea or a challenge and have the type of mind that will figure out a way to either make it, put it into action or solve it in a way that may not be the norm but will have the desired affect. Having been relatively poor most of my life, this strength has actually served me well.

In looking at Linda I absolutely see her organizational talent as a huge strength and I am so jealous. I wish she lived close so I could pick her brain on a lot of things I am muddling through right now. But she also has the ability to keep some of us grounded and focused. Some of us tend to get carried away with ideas and ideals and she has the knack to gently reel us back in to reality. I for one really appreciate that and consider it another strength she may not even know she has.

Well, I like to think I can build up confidences, encourage, nurture, point out good, enthuse in new areas, jointly break new ground with people, break down barriers - that kind of thing...

Linda, I don't know very well, but she seems someone able to give credit, where credit is due, going the extra mile where necessary to assist or enhance a situation.

Edited to add Evvy:

Evvy comes across as a string of Z words - zeal, zest, ok a couple of Z words! Also a great listener, putting up with many of my crazy suggestions over a BBQ at the Red Chilli

HI Ben!!

I think you could probably add zany to the z list. At least that is what some family members call me, especially when referring to my off beat life choices.

But it was great BBQ, great conversation and some really great suggestions. Food for the mind as well as the belly!

What am I good at? Well, I think I know, but it does depend on how you express it.

Before I posted my answer I thought I'd do a reality check. That's where my wife Christine is pretty good. She said exactly what I was going to say, but somehow it sounded a little different.

She said:

You're good at coming up with bonkers ideas.

Thanks for that.

Now the way I would prefer to put it is that, according to Belbin's classification of team roles, I'm a Plant:

Plants are creative, unorthodox and a generator of ideas. If an innovative solution to a problem is needed, a Plant is a good person to ask. A good plant will be bright and free-thinking. Plants can tend to ignore incidentals and refrain from getting bogged down in detail. The Plant bears a strong resemblance to the popular caricature of the absentminded professor-inventor, and often has a hard time communicating ideas to others.

I guess that makes me quite good at tactics, but pretty hopeless at strategy. Quite good at listening, except when I'm not paying attention. Quite good at leading a project team, but pretty hopeless at timing and making the really important decisions in a role of overall leadership.

Now, turning the person who posted before me: although I've met Ben and had the chance to get to know him a bit, I can't claim to know very much. What I do know, however, is fully borne out by some of his remarks in the previous post. He is constructive and concerned with building things (and people) up; he is receptive to others and listens well. Above all, though, he is perceptive - he proved this conclusively by saying of Linda:

she seems someone able to give credit, where credit is due, going the extra mile where necessary to assist or enhance a situation.

I think that is spot on!

I am good at imagining, and at writing. I am good at synthesizing, and at relating what I know about stuff to the human experience. I am also good at orchestrating large scale happenings. What am I best at? Dreaming Big, I think...

David is a social scientist who so good at patiently paring things of fluff and seeing the benefit of alternative productive connections that don't yet, but could, exist. He has tenacity an endless supply of good will, and a genuine heart.

Ben, like me, is a dreamer.

Evvy is happiest when she is doing.

Linda grounds us.

Am I doing the experiment right?

I don't think there is a right way or a wrong way. Thats the beauty of it all.

You are far too modest my dear. What I see is that you do much much more than just dream. Over the years I have watched you in amazement. What you do is to look at a situation, a person, an idea or whatever and you have the capability of seeing what it/they "could be" instantly. That is definitely a gift.

I'm good at making something to eat when the cupboard is (almost) bare. I find it very hard to say much about me, self-knowledge perhaps escapes me. But what I'm getting at with the food business is the ability to put things which belong together, somehow, together, even when those combinations aren't common.

We are going to have some storms over the next few days. I planted the last of my seedlings which had languished too long in the flats, and even sprinkled in a few seeds after supper. I had to come in to get the flashlight because it was dark and I couldn't find my soil knife. While I was playing the garden I was thinking. Yesterday, I worked in a friend's mother's garden. I love this because she is the consummate gardener. Working in her garden is being privy to a long conversation with the land, plants and my friend's mother's particular personality. Anyhow, my thoughts turned to Evvy.

I very much like Christina's succinct: "happiest when she is doing." Obviously Christina knows more than I do. But I think a great strength of Evvy's is the ability to hear what is really being said. And I think this ability stems from a deep reservoir of compassion.

My friend's mother had 11 or 12 children--I loose count. Managing that sort of household is a daunting challenge. There are a couple of connections that lead me to think of Evvy in the same stream of consciousness. One is their ability to somehow make enough when there is too little. Related to that is the capacity even in good times to appreciate the littlest things. The second point is that Evvy honors the paths of others even when sometimes those pathways bring her sorrow.

All of you in this thread are precious to me. Your gifts are many!