Getting Down With My INFJ Self.

I took a test tonight, trying to clear my mind from all the drama of Twitter and my personal life, and discovered that I'm an INFJ. You might be thinking, what kind of ridiculous web lingo is that? Maybe it stands for Internet Night Fun Junkie or Invisible Nice Frum Jew or something. Alas, it's actually the outcome of my Keirsey Temperament Sorter, which analyzes your personality (at least, that's how I understand it). INFJ roughly equates to the "Counselor" personality. Slap me on a list with Sidney Poitier, Eleanor Roosevelt, Gandhi, and Emily Bronte, and call me Chavi.

According to this website, here are the details about what being an INFJ means, along with (of course) my commentary.

Counselors have an exceptionally strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others, and find great personal fulfillment interacting with people, nurturing their personal development, guiding them to realize their human potential. -- This actually explains a lot.

Counselors are scarce, little more than one percent of the population, and can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that Counselors are flighty or scattered; they value their integrity a great deal, but they have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them. -- I'd like this to be immensely clear to those readers who think my life is too public or that I share too much of what's going on. It really, honestly, truly, is only probably 10 percent of what it means to be me, what I'm thinking, what I'm doing, and who I am. Most probably wouldn't look at me and say "she's private," but this paragraph basically sums me up in a nutshell. A very large, twisted, complicated nutshell.

Blessed with vivid imaginations, Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. -- Hello blogging! My vivid imagination plays heavily into what I call SIDS (Sense of Impending Doom Syndrome). I honestly have the most ridiculous ability to foresee any possible problems in any situation, including what would happen if I misstep walking down stairs or step wrong on a sidewalk. I like to think I'm a good writer, but I only like to think that because I write for others. I often say this blog is my therapy, and although it is, I use this blog to help light a fire in the neshamot (souls, spirits) of others. I want to know YOU, and I want YOU to know me!

Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another's emotions or intentions - good or evil - even before that person is aware of them. -- I always have said I'm a good judge of character. Look out, you evil doers!

Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others' feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor's remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena. -- Exactly.

The great thing about this is that it makes me perfect for being an educator. Too perfect? Maybe. This also explains why I hate the phone, but relish in online communication via things like Twitter. I cherish one-on-one relationships, and I often feel like I'm neglecting people because I have so many people I care about. I could start listing them, but I'd probably forget some of them. But y'all know who you are.

Ever since I was a kid, I felt overwhelmed. Like, the world is so big. That there's so much going on. That it's all just too much to handle as one person. Do you guys ever feel like that? Like the pressure of the world is on your shoulders? Like you're meant to do something really big, important, and amazing, but that sometimes you feel it's just too much. I spent a large part of my life trying to fix some personal relationships, family, friends. My outpourings -- more often than not -- are met with failure or brick walls. It all piles up sometimes, and it starts to feel like it's beyond too much. Infinitely too much. 


So tomorrow, I'm taking a break. It's not Shabbos, of course, but in solidarity with my e-BFFs @hsabomilner and @avulpineheart, I'm taking a break. They're actually doing this break in solidarity with me, to get me to take a day to just sit back and be myself, to be quiet with myself, to just chill out, and for that I thank them. Expect some awesome blog posts, at least one book review (The Book Thief), and a more relaxed, happier, prepared-for-everything me. 


Peace and cookies friends. Get down with your Myers-Briggs/Keirsey Temperament Sorter selves!