feeling empty

[Joy]

Theory: When dynamic types feel empty, they try to fill the void by giving themselves things to do. When static types feel empty, they try to fill the void with stuff.

What do you think? Obviously both can apply to the same person, but I think different people have different tendencies. (Some try to fill it with relationships or food/substances, but those can be classified as "things to do" or "stuff" as well, depending on how they're experiencing it.)

[implied]

can you explain more? i'm not really sure what the difference is between "try to fill the void with stuff" vs "try to fill the void by giving themselves things to do"? how are you defining each of these? give examples of both categories if you could.

[FDG]

can you explain more? i'm not really sure what the difference is between "try to fill the void with stuff" vs "try to fill the void by giving themselves things to do"? how are you defining each of these? give examples of both categories if you could.

stuff=xanax
things to do=binge drinking

joy= both static and dynamic!!

[strrrng]

I don't know that your claim is true. Sometimes I look for activity, sometimes I look for stuff.

[implied]

stuff=xanax
things to do=binge drinking

joy= both static and dynamic!!

oh, well that makes it miraculously clear!

[Joy]

can you explain more? i'm not really sure what the difference is between "try to fill the void with stuff" vs "try to fill the void by giving themselves things to do"? how are you defining each of these? give examples of both categories if you could.

Stuff: material accumulation; people who do this would perhaps go shopping when they feel empty, and on a long term scale they may accumulate wealth or collect things obsessively (such as comics or whatever)
Things to do: always needing to have something to do, feeling restless if they don't know what they can/should be doing at the moment; on a long term scale this may manifest as being a workaholic, etc.

Now that I think about it though, I think extroverts may tend to feel like the latter more than introverts would.

[implied]

Stuff: material accumulation; people who do this would perhaps go shopping when they feel empty, and on a long term scale they may accumulate wealth or collect things obsessively (such as comics or whatever)
Things to do: always needing to have something to do, feeling restless if they don't know what they can/should be doing at the moment; on a long term scale this may manifest as being a workaholic, etc.

Now that I think about it though, I think extroverts may tend to feel like the latter more than introverts would.

okay that's basically exactly what i thought you were referring to. i think it's too narrow to be useful because i'm thinking perhaps the "stuff" tendency might very well be a sensory static sort of thing, if anything, and i don't even think it is really.

fwiw, i relate with both behaviors.

[redbaron]

time heals all wounds, but not if you stand still. time leaves things standing still.

move things around in a uniform manner and over time the slate approachs blankness.

whoa. deep thoughts by Jack Handy.

[dbmmama]

It hasn't happened a lot that I feel empty, but I felt empty for a period when I first started my studies. I actually tried filling the void with "feelings". I mean, I kind of abused feelings to "feel" again myself. I used sex, drugs, etc. to "capture" feelings. Of corse it didn't really work in the long run... Would that qualify for "stuff" or "things to do"??

ditto again. i fill the emptiness with feelings too. i do the other things too but feelings are the main thing. if i feel the way i want to feel inside than the rest doesn't matter, or it's all good then. and that's when i feel the best being myself.

[calenwen]

Stuff: material accumulation; people who do this would perhaps go shopping when they feel empty, and on a long term scale they may accumulate wealth or collect things obsessively (such as comics or whatever)
Things to do: always needing to have something to do, feeling restless if they don't know what they can/should be doing at the moment; on a long term scale this may manifest as being a workaholic, etc.

Now that I think about it though, I think extroverts may tend to feel like the latter more than introverts would.

Hm, I definitely don't accumulate material possessions as a way of filling a void. I look to things that I hope will transcend the material (experiences, relationships, even a good book), so I suppose that falls into the second category.

[Minde]

What do you all mean by feeling empty? Is it as Loki said, "that yearning for something I did not have and didn't understand"? I'm not sure I understand what you guys are talking about.

[redbaron]

I felt empty for a long time once... years... (of course not constantly all the time during those years)... I filled it by being with someone else. And then it sort of went away... I found that yearning for something I did not have and didn't understand created it... the person I was with had "it" whatever it was... I learned how to create it for myself. I thought "fill the void with yourself." I think I needed to learn to love myself but I had no concept of what that meant... by learning how to love someone else who knew how to love himself, this seemed to teach me what it means to love myself and how to do it.

Since then I have felt more complete because I've found that when I am with myself I can not truly be empty or even if I feel that way I still have me so it's okay. This isn't to say that I never have a problem about feeling empty now, but I tend to find that I now at least have what I need to work with it when it arises... sometimes yearning creates it... dissatisfaction and aspiration for something more can bump me out of it (if I act)... but I do think that ultimately action will be required to pinch it to a close... so I can relate to a need for action... but I don't really know if that's related to anything here.

I do think the way in which I am most hollow now is in terms of a need for action and implementation... as I am trapped in my mind.

I love what you said here Loki and I resonate with much of it, yes.

[dbmmama]

What do you all mean by feeling empty? Is it as Loki said, "that yearning for something I did not have and didn't understand"? I'm not sure I understand what you guys are talking about.

minde, your quote is one of my fav songs i sing to bring me back out of any "empty" feeling.

i've got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart

i've got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart to stay

[Ms. Kensington]

time heals all wounds, but not if you stand still. time leaves things standing still.

move things around in a uniform manner and over time the slate approachs blankness.

kinda .. sounds static to me.

joy, at first glance i think it sounds too broad. like all dynamic types are dynamic. Maybe it's better to say that when they are doing stuff they are less likely to feel empty. Actually.. all the ENTjs I know.. maybe two or three.. i can see them being unhappy when they are not doing something. ISFps .. i feel they can feel full as long as there is calm around them.

[Ms. Kensington]

I felt empty for a long time once... years... (of course not constantly all the time during those years)... I filled it by being with someone else. And then it sort of went away... I found that yearning for something I did not have and didn't understand created it... the person I was with had "it" whatever it was... I learned how to create it for myself. I thought "fill the void with yourself." I think I needed to learn to love myself but I had no concept of what that meant... by learning how to love someone else who knew how to love himself, this seemed to teach me what it means to love myself and how to do it.

Since then I have felt more complete because I've found that when I am with myself I can not truly be empty or even if I feel that way I still have me so it's okay. This isn't to say that I never have a problem about feeling empty now, but I tend to find that I now at least have what I need to work with it when it arises... sometimes yearning creates it... dissatisfaction and aspiration for something more can bump me out of it (if I act)... but I do think that ultimately action will be required to pinch it to a close... so I can relate to a need for action... but I don't really know if that's related to anything here.

I do think the way in which I am most hollow now is in terms of a need for action and implementation... as I am trapped in my mind.

darn you INFps for needing Se.. i want you all to myself.

[lefty]

Theory: When dynamic types feel empty, they try to fill the void by giving themselves things to do. When static types feel empty, they try to fill the void with stuff.

What do you think? Obviously both can apply to the same person, but I think different people have different tendencies. (Some try to fill it with relationships or food/substances, but those can be classified as "things to do" or "stuff" as well, depending on how they're experiencing it.)

this must be the jungian concept of fluid and crystalized types. also reminds me of the erich fromm book entitled "to have or to be."

[Blaze]

Theory: When dynamic types feel empty, they try to fill the void by giving themselves things to do. When static types feel empty, they try to fill the void with stuff.

What do you think? Obviously both can apply to the same person, but I think different people have different tendencies. (Some try to fill it with relationships or food/substances, but those can be classified as "things to do" or "stuff" as well, depending on how they're experiencing it.)

dynamic extraverts do do do do when feeling distressed, empty, or otherwise disatisfied inside. EJ temperatment.

static extraverts fill the void with sex, drugs, relationships, shopping, gambling etc when feelign distressed, empty, or otherwise disatisfied inside. EP temperament.

it's a combination of being externally focused (extraversion) with rationality vs irrationality. rationals try to get the situation to be what it should be so that they can feel better inside; irrationals try to get their mood in the right space so they can make the external changes they think they should make.

but either way it's an outside-in approach. introverts have an inside-out approach to things.

i've learned that following my natural tendancy to fill the void is counter-productive, since i naturally tend toward extremes. before i know it i'm overloaded with too much of whatever it is that i'm doing. it's better for me to take a very Te approach to problems when i have them. writing and carrying out action plans, while they don't quell the initial emptiness or discomfort, often have much better lasting results for what ails me.

i wonder whether dynamic extraverts would find comfort in using their id functions.

[Blaze]

my five year old, ILE, calms her self by classifying things. my theory is that when you are young, your creative function helps you feel better; when you get older, your creative gets worn out and you have to use your superid functions. or something like that.

[Khamelion]

there are different types of feeling empty. i can't sit here and name them all to you, but i think the one i might experience is emptiness as in skill-less. im an unformed tool...you know i am a tool but not what im for. some idea from in my head is supposed to form...me.... i suppose. i guess i just have to wait around until my mind decides to make something make sense. or maybe someone else does it for you? how does that make sense though...how is that fair? to have to wait on some other person...who may or may not even find you...bullshit. it'll have to hit you eventually...until then, just trudge on and feel empty and shapeless.


not to say you shouldn't try randomly shaping yourself on whims...thats probably going to help you figure things out faster in fact...you just get stung more often and have to admit defeat. i hate that.


there is a good chunk of nonsense for you.

[liveandletlive]

i can probably see that with / but im not so sure about how that would work with / as well

[redbaron]

my five year old, ILE, calms her self by classifying things. my theory is that when you are young, your creative function helps you feel better; when you get older, your creative gets worn out and you have to use your superid functions. or something like that.

I agree with this. I use my role function all the time now to help me feel better. I never did when I was younger.

[Creepy-Diana]

.

[Ezra]

I don't fill anything with "stuff". I asceticise my life; I discipline myself. If I'm feeling deficient in some way, I make it better by getting off my arse and working towards a better way of being.

[Gilly]

I don't fill anything with "stuff". I asceticise my life; I discipline myself. If I'm feeling deficient in some way, I make it better by getting off my arse and working towards a better way of being.

Preach it, brotha.

[Logos]

"Pudding can't fill the emptiness inside of me!...but it can help..."

[suoko]

The "feeling empty" is common to NF's and ST's (who are also nf's). They are people people and feel empty if they are not busy or with people. Their meaning comes from those, while the NTs and SFs have their feeling as sensoric, not intuitive (mental), and so they usually won't feel emptiness, except just between an extended gap of working and not working, when they are neither sensor feelers not intuitive thinkers, and when they have some overload/underload problem or some psychological or a medical problem.