20 Facts About Will

My initials, “K.W.” come from my given “first name”, Kevin William. It is a compound two-word name, like “John Luc” or “Mary Ann”. William is not my middle name. Kevin means kind and peaceful, and they really liked that meaning. William is a family name from both sides, and it is very flexible with many possible variations. They wanted me to be able to use whichever I liked the most when I was older. My parents kept things simple for me throughout school by calling me Kevin. After adopting the online moniker of Willscrlt, I started going by the name of Will in person. I lived with another Kevin for a while, and I stopped using the first part of my name entirely. I have used Will for over 35 years. Chances are, I won’t even register it if you call me Kevin. Similarly, don’t call me William, because it’s a name I never used. In September 2024, the domain name KWMurray.com finally became available to purchase, and “K.W. Murray” is a good name to use for my pen name since it’s not used by any famous authors or others. K.W. Murray is also a lot shorter than Kevin William Murray, so it works on many levels.

According to my DNA ethnicity report (see below), I am about 40% Scottish, and Murray is definitely a Scottish name. For information, see the Clan Murray article on Wikipedia (which happens to use the crest that I designed).

I was born male, currently (and probably always will) identify as male, and I use the pronouns “he/him/his”. I have family and friends who are at various stages along the trans path, and I consider myself a strong ally for the trans community.

I am a Scorpio/Libra mix, having been born within hours of the cusp between the two signs. I tend to be a lot more balanced than most Scorpios (the Libra influence), but I definitely have a Scorpio’s passion for things (and people) that interest me. I don’t take it too seriously, but it’s fun to think about.

According to the latest update from Ancestry.com, I am 38% Scottish, 30% Germanic European, 13% English/Northwestern European, 9% Swedish/Danish, 7% Norwegian, 1% Baltic, 1% Welsh, and 1% Eastern European & Russian.

According to the latest update from 23&Me.com, I am:

• 95% Northwestern European:
  • 53.5% British & Irish: Northern Ireland and Central Scottish Lowlands; Northern Munster; Scotland and Northern Ireland; Scottish Lowlands and Southern Uplands; South West England; Central and Southern Ireland; and South England, South West England, and East Anglia
  • 27.9% French & German: Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin, Baden-Württemberg, and Hamburg; with genetic ties to Brittany and the Paris Basin.
  • 7.3% Scandanavian
  • 6.8% Broadly Northwestern European
• 5% Eastern European

As you can see, and as many geneticists will likely tell you, these home DNA services are not extremely accurate. Ancestry says I have no Irish, despite my family tree showing links to Ireland. 23&Me lists quite a lot of Irish. But it also lists French, Ancestry doesn’t, and I’m not aware of any in my background. Then again, all of that Scandinavian and Eastern European came as a surprise, too.

Regardless of the data, it is clear that I am very, very White. As a child, you could have guessed that easily due to my red hair and pale skin. As I matured, my hair turned auburn, and then more brown. I am still fair-skinned.

I am a very spiritual person, but I am often upset by the amount of discrimination and bureaucracy that many organized religions pile on top of a spiritual connection with the divine. I am welcoming to and accepting of all who follow their faith, and I respect those who do not believe in a higher power or an after life. I am a member of a Presbyterian Church (PCUSA). It is a welcoming and extremely inclusive and diverse church. The members are genuinely accepting and feel like an extended family rather than people putting on airs.

I do not fit neatly into labels when it comes to political affiliations. I prefer to study all sides (not just “both” sides) and make my decisions based on facts while looking at the likely long-term outcomes.
I tend to lean liberal when it comes to civil and personal rights issues and to the environment. However, I am moderate to slightly conservative when it comes to business and tax laws.
If you are really curious, you can see my scores on The Political Compass or on IDR Labs’ Political Coordinates or 8-Values Political tests. The Pew Research Center classifies me as an Outsider Left, which matches about 10% of the public.
When it comes to political activism, I am pretty casual. I try to effect change by working in and through the system. I also always vote in elections.

Largely debunked as a pseudoscience ranking up there with astrology, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator continues to be a commonly referenced shorthand for describing personality types. When I was younger, I was an INFP. Now that I am older, I am an ENFP. According to some psychologists, people’s personality types should never change (one of their chief complaints about MBTI). I have no problem with that, because I recognize the change in myself.
Here is VeryWellMind’s profile of the ENFP personality type or “Champion“. How accurately does that type (specifically the ENFP-A subtype) describe me? Probably about 75%. The INFP or “Mediator” type also describes me fairly well, but more the way I used to be than the way I am today. That is why I sometimes refer to myself as an xNFP, since the E/I is a bit fluid for me.

There are no labels (like MBTI’s “Champion”) with HEXACO, but I think that “Nice Guy” sums up my personality type pretty well.
The HEXACO model of personality is a refinement of the Five Factor Model (The Big 5) of personality. The biggest difference is the addition of the Honesty-Humility factor, which is essentially the inverse of the Dark Triad personality factors. Here are my results:
· Honesty-Humility: 3.94, High
· Emotionality: 2.63, Very low
· eXtraversion: 4.44, Very high
· Agreeableness: 3.63, High
· Conscientiousness: 3.75, Moderately high
· Openness to Experience: 4.75, Extremely high
· Altruism: 3.95, Moderate
You can take the test yourself for comparison.

Beyond the basic necessities (breathable air, potable water, nutritious food, adequate shelter, electricity, and enough money to pay for those things), these are the five things I appreciate the most: 1) family, 2) internet connected computer or tablet, 3) my music collection, 4) movie/TV collection on Vudu, and 5) books (paper or digital).

1) Under the Tuscan Sun, because it inspires me and gives me faith that things will work out for the best.
2) Love Actually, best romantic Christmas story ever, though The Holiday is pretty close behind.
3) The Fifth Element, totally unique Sci-Fi
4) Ella Enchanted, because it is a fun spin on all the fairy tale and princess-type of movies.
5) Secondhand Lions, because every boy needs a little help growing into a young man.
6) Newsies: The Musical or Newsies (the original), see my Newsies review o 
7) Warm Bodies, because who doesn’t enjoy a charming story about a girl and her zombie boyfriend.
8) Shall We Dance?, both the English and the Japanese versions.
9) Mama Mia! is another great musical based on ABBA songs.
10) Vincenzo. Netflix’s Korean Mafia series made me laugh, cry, and squirm in a a really good way.

1) The Wizarding World (Harry Potter & Fantastic Beasts), because they are so much fun and richly layered.
2) Back to the Future Trilogy, because they are so amazingly detailed and so much fun to watch.
3) Disney/Pixar/MCU/Star Wars, which I know have to include hundreds of movies and related TV shows, but there is something fun there for everyone to watch, no matter their mood.
4) Star Trek. Series ranked in order of preference: Strange New Worlds, The Orville (because it’s some of the best Star Trek out there even if it’s not Star Trek!), Discovery, The Next Generation, Lower Decks, Prodigy, Picard (season 2 with Q), The Original Series, Voyager, Enterprise, Deep Space 9, Picard (season 1), the Animated Series.
5) Doctor Who (and related spin-offs), especially #10’s episodes.
6) Stargate (series and movies).
7) Ocean’s 11, 12, and 13.
8) Battlestar Galactica (and related movies)
9) James Bond (not so much the Daniel Craig stories, though he was a decent Bond).
10) Jurassic Park, though the sequels vary considerably in quality.

Faith in God my Creator, my family, and the people who do good in the world.

There’s no single thing/event/person that made a dramatic difference in my life. There are several moments in my life where I experienced a deep realization about myself and the world around me, but they didn’t alter my life in big ways. Just gentle course corrections. My parents did a great job raising me with good values and a compassionate heart. I guess then that my parents had the greatest influence on my life, and I miss them, their love, and their wisdom very much.

If we threw out all the laws of the world and replaced them with these three laws, the world would probably be a much better place: 1) Respect everyone, including yourself. 2) Help others, even if only by staying out of the way of others who are already helping. 3) Other than that, do whatever you want, so long as it causes others no harm.

If I posted my complete job and volunteering history here, it would make this site much longer. I suggest that you view my LinkedIn profile for the most complete listing or work, school, and volunteering activities.

I have been a Scout leader (Cub Scouts: Den Leader, Asst. Cubmaster, Committee Member; Scouts BSA: Asst. Scoutmaster, Committee Member, Merit Badge Advisor, Nova/STEM Advisor; Venturing: Founder, Advisor; Sea Scouts: Committee Member). I am fully trained for all of the positions. As a committee member, I usually do a lot of background work that is not very visible, but it keeps the units going. My favorite part, though, is making a difference in the lives of youth, teaching them the skills that I learned as a Scout myself, and helping them to achieve their goals. Nothing is more fulfilling.

I worked at the Space Endeavour Camp at Vandenberg Air Force Base as a co-camp director (1 of 3 total each with different areas of responsibility). First, I was in charge of training the camp counselors for their jobs, and during camp, I was the one they came to with problems. Second, I had to source, setup, maintain, and teach computers in a computer lab created and networked from donated obsolete military equipment. Third, I was in charge of the evening/overnight program for the last three weeks of camp. One of the other camp directors and I also taught model rocketry and supervised launches by all of the campers. I also was responsible for working with the camp’s cook to plan and coordinate all the meals at camp. There was literally no time that I was not on-duty, with dozens of people needing immediate answers to all sort of things. It also was a whole lot of fun!

I was the night auditor/night manager at two different hotels. They could not have been more different from each other. One was the largest hotel in town, and the other was a boutique seaside hotel. While most nights were calm, there were others that were very exciting (Airplane crash, fire, and freaked out security guard? Check!). Read my article, “A night in the life of a hotel night auditor” for all the details.

“No problems. Only solutions waiting to be found.”