True enough.* I've had critics, mild and harsh and I try to
   respect their views of me and try to find some validity for
   their perspective while not allowing it to emotionally affect
   me.* I'm not suggesting you're doing so; but rather responding
   that when others characterize/mischaracterize me, it's fine -
   and even when I mischaracterize what I perceive to be
   characterizations of me... and so on. Muddling is my zen.* For
   me, striving for clarity and precision and focus gives me a
   headache.* I like my messy room and my messy mind; I doubt
   there's a soul who doesn't have some sort of muddle deep beneath
   clarity and precision. Is this imposing my own mess and
   ascribing it to all humanity?* Absolutely :D But it's the
   awkward that I find most fascinating, the bones aching, 5 foot
   2" size 12 foot tripping up the stairs and voice cracking
   pubescent me that's never left.* I'm the
   crying-for-my-mommy-first-day-of-kindergarten... the boy lost in
   the big city, and the preacher at the podium, politician and
   General, smart-ass film critic and backtalking 4th grader,
   "got-it-all-figured-out grownup", Superhero gonna-save-the-world
   all mixed together. Honestly, I prefer being the 42 year old,
   bearded 6' tall handsome guy I've become and suspect I'll have a
   similarly pleased-with-myself attitude in later decades as I've
   had before, always describing my experiences to my younger
   selves and trying to help them comprehend their own
   awkwardnesses as I progress forward through Time. The glimpses
   of how I'm characterized on occasion I don't take as attacks but
   opportunities for growth.* I relish the challenge of "you're
   wrong and here's why" not so I can convince someone else of my
   intellect or clarity but as a challenge to convince myself as to
   where they could be right about me, in as dispassionate a way
   possible When someone is off-balance, I like that their center
   of gravity actually is, for a moment, awkwardly just outside of
   their own bodies.* It is where I leave the narrow path to those
   who are better capable of keeping their centers within them; the
   off-balance state is a strangely comfortable one for me.* It
   allows me to empathize with the awkwardness in others by
   experiencing it continually in myself and learning to cope
   through acceptance of it.