Personality Types and all that jazz

I don't know about you, when I LOVE personality quizzes.
Yes, even the really stupid ones like "What kind of shoe are you."
Actually . . . I'm not sure I actually took that one, but, in high school, you never can tell. I'm sure at age seventeen I had some DESPERATE need to figure out if I was flip flops or stilettos or something. Self-discovering, identity, and hormones--all those things teenagers worry about, and a shoe quiz could pretty much settle that for you in three minutes time . . . or five, if you thought too hard about your answers.

ANYWAYS.

I noticed several peeps here in the blogsphere posting their results to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test. You know, people who identify as a mix of four letters? INSJ? ENFP? etc. That thing. It's pretty cool.
Plenty of peeps are linking of for Story of My Life's Blogtember Challenge, and this was just one of the many prompts. Pretty cool, right?

Well, as it turns out, Meyers-Briggs was one of those quizzes I took forever ago, and it seems my inner self hasn't changed much.

 Yeah, we're pretty much INFJ for life over here.
Well, I am. Chris, on the other hand, is Mr.INFP.
(not that you asked about him, but I thought I'd mention it, anyways).

Photo by Cory Callahan

Being an INFJ pretty much means I'm full of contradictions.

The Un-Peoplie People Person

Part of the definition of an INFJ is that we may APPEAR extroverted, but we're actually very introverted.

I'm naturally very shy, but, if you put me in a position where I'm expected to talk--leadership, performance, presentation--I will YACK YOUR EAR OFF. And I'll do it with ease. I don't like being the center of attention (in fact I kind of hate it), but I do well in the spotlight. I was so good at this that my former students cried foul when I confessed that I'm actually terrified of people.
I love being with a close group of friends (because close relationships like that are HUGE), but I recharge best on my own. I need my quiet me-time--whether it's hiking, long walks, Netflix marathons, or blogging. Sometimes, it's even cleaning while dancing around the kitchen like a madwoman to my favorite playlist. I mean, um, just cleaning. Like a mature, civilized person.Those kinds don't dance, do they?

The Structured Mess 

I like things orderly, but my own form of order, which might look like a mess.

But it's my mess. If I can find what I'm looking for in under five minutes, I'm organized, right?
Doing super-detailed, perfectionist projects CAN be right up my alley if I'm the person in charge. Doing something super detailed to someone else's standards? Oh my word. I dissolve into an insecure mess.I can't handle it. I either focus on all the teeny TINY details that it takes forever or I put it off until I'm panicked because the deadline's here and I've barely started.
I can paint minute details on a tea cup for fun for hours, but ask me to fold towels to my mother's standards? Nope.
I'm a creative--my imagination runs like its on crack, I'm enthralled by art, and I'm most at home playing with words and colors. It gets messy, but it's MY kind of messy. I can handle that.

The Clueless Mind-Reader 

INFJs are supposed to be borderline psychics. That makes me laugh. Really, it does.

But there's some teeny tiny grain of truth to it. Not because we're even REMOTELY psychic, but because we just read people well.
Sometimes, we "over-read" them . . . or at least I do. You see, I love studying people--psychology, all that jazz--I love discovering motive, history, and how that affects actions. I think it's the English major in me, where we analyzed so many fictional characters. You just learn to pick human beings apart. It's fun. But then I overpick.  I find myself in a mildly unpleasant situation with the person, and, oh my god, I've suddenly written the most tragic, dramatic, woe-is-me story you've ever imagined.
I make martyrs and villains in a second, mapping out this dismal future, that, really, is just plain ridiculous.

But sometimes, dagnabbit, I'm RIGHT. Sometimes, I'm very very wrong. Mostly, I'm ridiculous.

How is this? As an INFJ, I naturally rely more on feeling and emotion than logic. I can BE logical, but sometimes logic doesn't feel right.
See? There I go feeling again. Gosh, feelings. Pfft.

They attach all other kinds of phrases to INFJs like "Protectors" and "Nurturers," which aren't too far off.  I've always liked taking care of things--animals, people, nick-knacks that need extra love. The only thing I can't seem to handle are plants, and we're working on that. One of these days, I'll keep something in a pot alive. I swear  I will.

I also tend to internalize my own personal conflicts, and, when I can't avoid conflict with others and it gets WAY too intense and I just can't take it anymore, I DO explode, usually in tears, which is very unlike normal "happy" me, but VERY INFJ. If I'm under too much stress, I grow physically ill, which, again, matches up with the INFJ profile.

What about you?? What do you test as? Was your profile accurate or way off?

To read other blogs on this topic, check out the link-up here.

Want to learn more about yourself? Try things links: 

• The Myers-Briggs test
• Personality Test Based on Myers, Briggs, and Jung
   A quick, unique, and almost more personable test style to discover your personality profile. They pose 28 situations and ask you which of the two reactions you're more likely to have. It's quick, interesting, and fun. Give it a look!
• Which Harry Potter Character Are You?
  Based on Myers-Briggs.  LOVE THIS.
  Technically, I'm Lupin, but I act more like Luna ;]
  Chris, on the other hand, is categorized as a Luna but acts like Lupin. Weird, right?
• Famous Literature as Myer's-Briggs Personalities
  The Huffington Post tells you which famous book are you and why. Pretty intriguing. 
• Famous Personality Types
  This is such a cool list! Unfortunately, it had me fuming for days (still can't get over it) because the list does includes the heroes and villains of history.
  So Chris finds out that he's ALL OF MY CREATIVE HEROES (seriously, the INFP list is awesome), and I find out that I'm Hitler . . . and Osama Bin Laden . . . I had a COW, people. An unreasonable, illogical, very feeling cow. But I feel I had a good reason: I'm freakn Hitler.