INFJ

Sunday Summary #33: What’s on the Internet

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ARTICLES

1|  Lol lol, here you go – a user’s manual for befriending INFJs!  The whole thing is hilarious, but I especially enjoyed the sections on “Advanced Interactions” and “Troubleshooting and Support.”

Q: What if I think my INFJ suffers from “special snowflake” syndrome?

A: Many INFJs grow up feeling misunderstood and embrace the uniqueness of the INFJ label when they discover Myers-Briggs. If you attack their sense of individuality, the INFJ will react defensively (often by shutting you out of their life rather than direct confrontation). Let your INFJ know you understand that they feel rare, unusual, and out of place, but remember they may also need a reminder that they really are part of the human race. Healthy INFJs won’t insist that they are better than other people or push you away for reminding them that they’re human.

2|  This review of Captain America: Civil War is AMAZING.

The Catboy mourns his dad. Handsome Soviet Assassin Husband buys plums. He is an innocent boy. He just likes to eat fruit alone in his gross bed. He is so sad. He is arrested for being sad. Everyone is arrested and in trouble, even The Catboy even though he is a king. Maybe they are in trouble for destroying Romania. I think it’s because they are sad. Sad handsomes. 😦 Handsome SOviet Assassin Husband has Handsome America picture in his journal. I faint. I want them to be together so bad. I clutch my face in the dark. I flex and relax my muscles. They are so handsome and unhappy.

3|  The Mary Sue does a fun look back (and wish forward) at Disney princes and how they evolved into having personalities.  I was most interested in the idea that as women started contributing to the creative process, the princes stopped being Cardboard Cutout Providers  and started being Floppy Haired Fun Guys.

VIDEOS

1|  Alexander Skaarsgaard has the biggest crush on Stephen Colbert.  Seriously, I have never seen anyone make heart eyes at someone so hard for so long, and I am HERE FOR IT. (Bonus:  watch their follow-up clips in which they have a little slap-fight over food and Stephen tries to convince Alexander to take off his shirt).

What is the Difference Between Introversion and Social Anxiety?

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I’ve always been an introvert, and I’ve recently been proud of it.  I love the part of me that thrives under intimate, deep conversation, that cultivates lasting friendships, that is comfortable being alone.  If the flip side of these benefits is that I am uncomfortable around large groups of people, so be it.

But lately I’ve been realizing that maybe my discomfort is something other than introversion.  Earlier this week Dina said about “D,” one of the girls in our safe house: “She is scared to get her monthly metro card.  She has never done it before, and she is terrified.  She has many problems.”  (Please also understand this is a Greek woman speaking in English, so her thoughts are blunted by translation.)  Even with that caveat, however, all I could think was, “I haven’t gotten my monthly metro card either.  I thought about it on many occasions, but it always scared me and was never SUPER necessary, so I avoided it.  Does that mean I have many problems?”  (Yes, obviously, but I did not this specifically was such a problem.)

Because doesn’t everyone hate doing something new?  Doesn’t everyone get nervous interacting with customer service reps?  Doesn’t everyone avoid stressful things if possible?  Or at least, don’t all introverts?   Continue reading →

Online Dating as an INFJ (aka Tinder Update)

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About a month ago, I wrote about my half-hearted attempt to try Tinder.  Since then, I have kept my account…quarter-heartedly?  Eighth-heartedly?  What I mean is, I open the app every couple days, swipe left on everyone, and close out again.

I know I’m not doing it right.  I’ve tried prioritizing different things:  first I opened everyone’s profile to see if they wrote anything about themselves.  If they didn’t, I automatically swiped left.  If they did, more often than not it was something like this, which also resulted in a left swipe:

  • “I’ll Channing your Tatum.”
  • “All kinds scorn SEX they is CRIME.”
  • “My last tweet was longer than my last relationship.”
  • “Pigeon King.”

Continue reading →

INFJ Post Generator

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I found an INFJ article generator!  What a wonderfully specific gift on the Internet.  Here are some of my favorite posts that it linked me to.

1|  These spot-on cartoon descriptions of INFJ life by INFJoe.

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2|  Someone polled a bunch of INFJs and found our top 25 favorite movies!

Here’s what I found out: INFJs have very eclectic taste, but out of all the genres, they seem to have very obvious favorites.

INFJ Favorite Movie Genres:
1 – Dramas
2 – Epic fantasies
3 – Psychological thrillers
4 – Family movies
5 – Romances

Continue reading →

My LIFE as an INFJ

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I saw How You’ll Do Everything Based on Your Personality Type by Heidi Priebe for free on the Amazon Kindle site, and I’ve always wanted to know how I’ll do everything.  She’s a writer for Thought Catalog, and I had seen a few of these before on Facebook.  But I couldn’t resist knowing everything about myself all at once, and of course, then sharing my discoveries on this blog.  Check the book out for yourself if you want to know about your own personality type!

Here are some of my favorite INFJ truths:

1|  What Each Personality Type Does at a Party:  Reluctantly holds a counseling session in the bathroom with some drunk girl they don’t know.

(But not “reluctantly” because there’s nothing I want more at a party than to find space for a one-on-one conversation.)

2|  What Each Personality Type is Like as a Friend:  The friend you have to plan a week ahead to see (in order to give them time to mentally prepare for the hangout) but then always end up spending ten plus hours discussing the nature of life, the Universe, and everything with.

(Nothing has ever been more accurate in my entire life.)

3|  Here’s Why You’re Still Single Based on your Personality Type:  I already covered this one in a different blog post!

4|  Here’s the Most Attractive Thing about your Personality Type:  Your Intensity.  There is nothing meek or helpless about you.  You are a highly intelligent, highly perceptive individual who understands others on a deep level.  This gives you the unique ability to connect quickly with new people.  It’s an intense experience for those on the receiving end of it and it makes everything about you seem hella sexy.

(Huh, and here I thought my intensity was what was keeping guys away.  NOT that I would be less intense to please someone else….hmmm.  There’s that “nothing meek or helpless” quality.)

5|  Here’s How to Attract Each Personality Type:  Be one big, walking paradox.  Look them deep in the eyes and tell them that you ‘Need them’ to help figure yourself out.

(ELIZABETH, LOOK!  There’s a REASON I always fall for fictional bad guys with hearts of gold!)   Continue reading →

INFJ on Pinterest

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A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about INFJ Complexities based on something I saw on Pinterest.  It turns out that website is a treasure trove of insightful and hilarious INFJ observations.  Here are some of my favorites!

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“Still feels like a mystery despite how much they’ve revealed to you”
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HARD YES.
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Good luck!
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“Believes they are right about everything and will boss you around accordingly”….but hopefully without you noticing.
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Is there another way?
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Byyyyyye.

INFJ Complexities

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Every time I meet new people, I have to have this conversation:

Person:  You’re so friendly!  You should come hang out with this group and then that group and then do five more social things!
Me:  Yikes, no.  I want to go hang out alone in my room for awhile.  I’m an introvert.
Person:  What?  You’re an introvert??
Me:  Yes, like, a SUPER introvert.
Person:  But you’re so outgoing?

When I took the Birkman Personality Inventory, the man analyzing me pointed out my high need to both BE friendly and have people be friendly BACK.  “You’re probably a pretty high extrovert, huh?” he said.  I laughed in his face.  “No, I’m definitely an introvert.”  I felt kind of bad as his face fell, my personality not fitting into his schematics.

Who knew the answer that would balance my dichotomies would come from Pinterest?  I was mindlessly scrolling one day when I found this pin:   Continue reading →

How to Party Like an Introvert

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  1. Invite two of your closest friends over.  A week in advance, obviously.
  2. The day of, text everyone to make sure they are coming.
  3. Feel both happy and disappointed when they say yes.
  4. Greet them at the door with awkward small talk.
  5. Watch that indie movie on Netflix.
  6. Talk about how the movie reminded you of the inevitability of death and how earlier that week you thought your mole was cancerous until it turned out to be a bit of chocolate.
  7. Start obnoxiously yawning around 9:45.
  8. Say, “Well, I’ve got an early day tomorrow, so…” at 10:00.
  9. Respond “So?” when someone points out that tomorrow is Saturday.
  10. Wave from the doorway as they leave.
  11. Sprint to your room to change into comfy pajamas.
  12. Make hot chocolate and pop a bowl of popcorn.
  13. Turn on the side lamps in your room and turn off the overhead light.
  14. Pat the bed until your cat curls up beside you.
  15. Get out that 500-page book you were dying to read the whole time your friends were over.
  16. Sip your hot chocolate, eat your popcorn, pet your cat, and get lost in someone else’s life.

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(Image from Grammarly)

How to Stress Like an Introvert

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The past couple weeks have been super stressful.  This is almost entirely centered around two things:  1)  putting a lot of pressure on myself to get all my fundraising done NOW, and 2) wanting to be involved in everything all the time.  This amounts to a lot of complaining about things that I legitimately enjoy doing.  Plan a party for a retiring minister.  Yes!  Plan a massive yard sale that keeps growing with thoughtful donations?  Of course!  Work on designing and adding content to the church website?  Ooo, cool!  Five more concerned friends offering fundraising ideas?  Great.

But all of this together?  The fun starts feeling like pressure.  And as an introvert who shuts down in the face of stress rather than acts out, things usually look like this:  Continue reading →

Find Out Why You’re Single With Myers-Briggs!

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My friend sent me a link to this article, “Here’s Why You’re Still Single Based on Your Myers-Briggs Personality Type” which I immediately knew would be up my alley.  Singleness?  Personality tests?  Self-awareness?  Yes please to everything.

I scrolled down to INFJ….and barked a surprised laugh before staring open-mouthed at my phone.  Continue reading →