A day in the mind of an INFj

[Darklord]

Hey, what's the alarm for? Nuclear war! Hide! We may just be lucky and be able to survive, and wouldn't it be marvellous to see the world afterwards?
Ahh, that's just my alarm clock.
Can't I sleep just a little longer? No, I've already been late for 1st period. But first period is study hall! Yeah, but I'm supposed to be there. Ah, dammit.

Hey, this guy quoted my post, and even added a "lol" smiley! I feel so powerful...

If I just try a little harder, I know I can read that person's mind...

Yeah, yeah, I get it, I get it, shut up, SHUT UP!
*Smiles politely and nods*

Hey, you guy, if you don't like me, why bother to say hello? No need to pretend, I can see you dislike me in your face and I can hear it in your voice. Why bother with lies?

Ok, teahcer, I get it. We all get it. now, will you just hand out that test?

That guy is so dim, he makes it impossible to read merely by being in the same room.

Arghh, why do they insist on talking, I just want to read!

Shut up, dog.
Get off my keyboard, cat!
Little sister, I know you're hyperactive, but is it impossible to keep your mouth closed??
*Pets dog*
*Lets cat out*
*Chats politely with sister*

And now for some SF...
Hey, y'all, that guy's evil, don't let him trick you! Oh, no, they killed a guy, I feel so sorry for him... They're gonna get him... HOORAY, the world is safe! ...for now...

I wonder if there's any chocolate left?
What about a can of coke?

No! They're back! Quick, turn off the computer, throw away the wrappers and the can... Yes, just like that.

Hey, I just realized how we can build _____!

Hey, I just had this brilliant idea about _______!

Hey, I just now understood _____'s theory of ______!

That theory is bullcrap.

Grumpy? Me? I'm happy! Can't you see it? Happy! No, I'm perfectly fine. Yes, I'm quite sure I don't want to go to the game tonight. Socialize, why? I get enough in touch with people through movies and chatrooms. No, I'm not going to excercise. Yes, I realize it's an unhealthy food. No, I'm not going to eat more of that yucky stuff over there just because it's healthy.

At last, all the others have left, some time for myself!
*Meditates*
*Reads*
*Watches SF: B5, SW...*
*Goes online*
Ahh, what a fantastic day this has been! Time to go to bed.

Why, oh why must that clock tick so loudly?
Turn of that heater, what are you, nuts, that noise could kill a cow!
That stripe of light fro mthe door is really annoying me.
Why couldn't those blenders be just a little bit thicker?

[Topaz]

This is so funny. When I was reading it I could see the attituded of all of Delta. Theres the LSE with its desire to do things right , the SLIs sensitivity to the environment, the IEEs fanciful dreaming and the EIIs awareness of others. Say, when dealing with others, can you tell me about how you perceive their feelings (or thoughts if you really are psychic). When and if you ever read Keirseys Please Understand Me did you relate to the description? If so, to what degree, if not to what degree.

Topaz

[Darklord]

Psychic? i don't know. It feels that way, at times. The thing is, when you hear the phrase "Read someone like an open book", that is what I do: I read them. I look at their face or hear their voice or both, and I know what they feel. Just like the letters I typed right now will have meaning. The clues are all there.
Of course, sometimes I don't read them, I just feel their emotions, with that little extra twist that tells me "these emotions aren't mine". It's really annoying when your eyes fill with tears because somebody else is feeling sad.

Let me rephrase the question and put it back:
How can you not see what people are feeling?
Or, perhaps,
How can you see that the door over there is green?

When I read type descriptions, all seem to apply to a certain degree. I can see situations where every characteristic would apply, and I can see how the pattrn of reactions described would apply to me. However, when I come to the right one, I identify fully, and I see that the pattern of reactions is the one I would naturally follow.

On a sidenote, I read Please Understand Me II, and read about the "diplomatic intelligence" of NFs and how they use this, and I thought "Hey, I'm not good at this at all". Just then, I thought about what I had actually been doing the last 15 minutes: Making up strategies for giving everyone just the right amount of praise without stepping on anybody else's toes and building up the right work environment for everybody. Then I laughed.

[schrödinger's cat]

Some of it reminds me of my SLI/ISTP brother. I could just picture the both of you watching SF, both with cans of coke, before plugging in your guitars and playing some Heavy Metal. Not a worth spoken in three hours. Both having a great time.

[Darklord]

Except for me having no idea whatsoever how to play the guitar... Yeah. I think my two best friends back home might be ISTps, although of different subtypes: One is more silent and messy, one is more talkative and orderly. The first one is more geeky. Naturally, he is the best friend of the two :wink: .

My friends tend to be of the kind where my parents say "God, he's been here for hours, and you haven't spoken a word to him!"
Extraverts ...
She'd never understand that we both think that is the best kind of friendship imaginable.

[Artemis]

My husband is ESTp and my dual (INFp). We can be in the same room or in the car for hours and not speak and everything is fine and comfortable, but once he leaves the house I am lost without him.

[Artemis]

Darklord said: "Can't I sleep just a little longer? No, I've already been late for 1st period. But first period is study hall! Yeah, but I'm supposed to be there. Ah, dammit."

I laughed when I read this as my brother had first period study hall his senior year and didn't go to school till second period. Everyday he was threatened by the office secretaries that if he ever did it again he would be put on report . . . what ever that meant. He and his friends used to drink with the high school principal and skip school and go fishing right across the road from the school were everyone could see them! Going to school in the country is much different than city life.

[diamond]

My husband is ESTp and my dual (INFp). We can be in the same room or in the car for hours and not speak and everything is fine and comfortable, but once he leaves the house I am lost without him.

Aren't estp husbands great? I have one too! **smiles warmly**, leaves to give DH a kiss.

[Artemis]

My husband is ESTp and my dual (INFp). We can be in the same room or in the car for hours and not speak and everything is fine and comfortable, but once he leaves the house I am lost without him.

Aren't estp husbands great? I have one too! **smiles warmly**, leaves to give DH a kiss.

Yes, he is. He tries so hard to take care of his family, all of us . . . he has four children to his first wife . . . I have two children to my first husband . . . we have no children together . . . that he spreads himself thin and his physical and mental health take a beating. All he wants is a peaceful household and a companion that is there for him. Time to plan a special weekend (he'll thank you for the idea) as he travels consistantly as a power plant inspector. He deserves so much more than me.

[Darklord]

Darklord, do you often feel like you are in some sort of trance when you move about in the physical world?

Yes. Sometimes, I feel that I'm removed from myself and just an observer. Other times, I don't register anything, I just react automatically. I guess that's where the term "space cadet" came from originally :wink: . If somebody gives me the "Earth calling" then, I usually say something along the line of "Earth cruiser 32 reporting from Alpha Proxima sector. We have the martians routed, Sir, and we just need a few more hours to drive into full retreat. Over".

[schrödinger's cat]

Interesting. In my last years of university, I used to write a lot of poetry, and afterwards I'd walk to lectures "on autopilot" and twice I got nearly run over by a car. Even today I can be so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I just function automatically, and I'll sort of "wake up" and go "Wait... didn't I just hold a pen in my hand? It's gone. That means I put it down somewhere. Now, let's look..."

And you feel like that a lot? Wow. Does your family accept this, or do you get flak for it?

[Creepy-ENFPerator]

Psychic? i don't know. It feels that way, at times. The thing is, when you hear the phrase "Read someone like an open book", that is what I do: I read them. I look at their face or hear their voice or both, and I know what they feel. Just like the letters I typed right now will have meaning. The clues are all there.
Of course, sometimes I don't read them, I just feel their emotions, with that little extra twist that tells me "these emotions aren't mine". It's really annoying when your eyes fill with tears because somebody else is feeling sad.

An INFj I know well says that he can read peoples' emotions by their handwiting. Can you do that, too?

[Darklord]

Sometimes. It's easier from the content, though.

Interesting. In my last years of university, I used to write a lot of poetry, and afterwards I'd walk to lectures "on autopilot" and twice I got nearly run over by a car. Even today I can be so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I just function automatically, and I'll sort of "wake up" and go "Wait... didn't I just hold a pen in my hand? It's gone. That means I put it down somewhere. Now, let's look..."

And you feel like that a lot? Wow. Does your family accept this, or do you get flak for it?

Yes, I do that. I can never find what I want, unless I haven't tidied up my room in a while: when my room's a mess, I can find anything there quickly and efficiently, but if it's all neat and tidy, I can search for hours for the bed. I also write poetry.

And, yes, my family accepts it. They are convinced I'm rapidly bound for professorhood .

[NeonMonk]

Interesting. In my last years of university, I used to write a lot of poetry, and afterwards I'd walk to lectures "on autopilot" and twice I got nearly run over by a car. Even today I can be so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I just function automatically, and I'll sort of "wake up" and go "Wait... didn't I just hold a pen in my hand? It's gone. That means I put it down somewhere. Now, let's look..."

And you feel like that a lot? Wow. Does your family accept this, or do you get flak for it?

God I am so like that. I'll just put something down and just forget about it. Not even forget about it because I didn't even realise I put it down! It's like a running joke amongst my friends how scattered I am!

[Creepy-guest for now]

Hi guys,

if I am indeed an infj, I really don't relate so much to the things in this thread... (btw, I'm new to the forums)

Personally, I've always felt uncomfortable thinking about the paranormal, unless I feel that it is something that has some kind of logical answer. Maybe I have a logical subtype, like it is reffered to in other parts of the forum.

[Reuben]

Hahahaha the stuff here gave me a few chuckles INFj's are so cool... anyway Guest for now, could you be ISTp? I used to fear the paranormal...as in really really fear it and I was (sometimes still is ) scared of the dark after reading some paranormal book in my childhood and obviously that paranormal thingy has no logical answer *gets freaked out*. Or maybe you're a INFj logical subtype. I've never heard of that before maybe I'll check out the threads. :wink:

[Arcanum]

Well, I don't think I am ISTP. I'm definitely an introverted idealist and I will not be comfortable with something unless I can get some type of definite conclusion out of it, which I imagine is a judging classification.

I think that what I don't like about the "paranormal" is the whole "ooohhhh" part... For some reason I dont' feel comfortable with it. Thanks for replying my post Blueblade

(btw, Do you guys know how long it takes to receive the e-mail so I can actually have an identity in the forums?)

[Arcanum]

I still haven't gotten the e-mail. It's the same thing if I just post without logging-in I guess. Now I have to find a good username...will probably spend considerable time doing this

I haven't read the Historian (actually, I don't usually read books unless it's something catching my interest). I can relate to the feeling you are describing Nfp-, but it depends on the subject matter. I get that feeling from watching or reading about "dark" themes. The interesting thing is that I consciencely (hope that's how it is spelled :wink: ) know that it is not real, but it still makes me feel uneasy. This happened to me a lot when I was kid, but it was worse because I really didn't have a strong part of me to tell me that what I was imagining couldn't be real .

[Darklord]

Don't worry, I don't claim to have INFj as a registered trademark. Heck, it is even possible that I'm mistyped (Though very unlikely). Besides, you have individual differences in the types and subtypes and whatnot...

[Arcanum]

Don't worry, I don't claim to have INFj as a registered trademark. Heck, it is even possible that I'm mistyped (Though very unlikely). Besides, you have individual differences in the types and subtypes and whatnot...

Don't worry Darklord, I think I know what happened. The only way for us infjs to survive is to fit into different situations (where we were "thrown at") until we have achieved a certain level of control. In my case, I grew up in south america where it is acceptable to be very . What might have happened is that I spent my energy trying to compensate for it and developed other functions, becoming a little less focused on my stronger ones.

Nonetheless, we will head for the same place, but take different routes.

[Creepy-pokeball]

Don't worry, I don't claim to have INFj as a registered trademark. Heck, it is even possible that I'm mistyped (Though very unlikely). Besides, you have individual differences in the types and subtypes and whatnot...

Don't worry Darklord, I think I know what happened. The only way for us infjs to survive is to fit into different situations (where we were "thrown at") until we have achieved a certain level of control. In my case, I grew up in south america where it is acceptable to be very . What might have happened is that I spent my energy trying to compensate for it and developed other functions, becoming a little less focused on my stronger ones.

Nonetheless, we will head for the same place, but take different routes.

We need elders on this board to see something like that.

[Darklord]

Maybe. I never really tried to fit in. I was a misfit no matter what I did .

[Arcanum]

Maybe. I never really tried to fit in. I was a misfit no matter what I did .

Darklord, for some reason you have made me think of something I didn't realize before...

It appears that infjs have problems fitting-in in general. We look at things from a dettached point of view, but at the same time very connected to other people. I think that we are not "meant" to fit-in, but rather, move people and actually create a group where we would see ourselves fit in. And it just so happens that by doing this seemingly selfish thing, we would be forming stable and harmonious groups of people.

I think that there is a direct correlation between what we want and what would favor other people, since true happiness for us might well be in finding and belonging to harmonious groups.

An analogy to what I'm thinking is like being in a bare room with wooden blocks lying on the floor. You don't like how they are arranged and causes discomfort, and you can't leave the room. Time passes and sometimes you don't care about the blocks being the way they are, but they still cause discomfort. And then, all of sudden, you realize that you have the ability to actually move the blocks...