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The elusive INFJ

Apollanaut

Senior Mugwump
Joined
Aug 27, 2008
Messages
550
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
peak experiences for me, when i feel most home and like i belong, are when my Ni and my Fe are both completely connecting with whatever is in my attention. Ni makes you perceive the unity of everything, ecological Big Picture vastness and the stirring complexity emerging out of the unity of the world and the place of each object (me!) within it, purposefully connected, evolving, while Fe makes me feel the beauty, the color, the musicality of the world and its dancing eyes.

this is why infj is called the mystic. its ecstatic, timeless, deep communion. we feel it happening inside of us, part of it is extraverted and part of it is connecting to the feeling tones and hues of what is outside of us, feeling them flow thru us.

That's a beautiful description - it's actually brought tears to my eyes as it has reminded me of those times when I've experienced the same thing.

I had an experience like this several years ago, after a very intense period of my life, whilst commuting home from work. A state of expanded awareness gradually came over me, I began to sense the Unity of everything - people and objects seemed to glow with bright colours and I was filled with the most ecstatic joy I have ever felt. For some reason, people on the train, in the street and in the supermarket I visited on the way home seemed to be drawn to me: as they approached I could sense their needs, hopes, sadnesses and dreams, and did my best to reach them in some way.

In the supermarket I realised I was in such an altered state of mind it was impossible to think normally or make choices, until I realised that the objects I needed to buy were actually glowing brightly on the shelves, so I just picked up everything that was "shining". Later, when I returned to "normal", I checked out my purchases and had in fact correctly chosen everything that was on my list. I met a confused old lady in the shop - possibly suffering from Alzheimer's - who was struggling to remember what she wanted to buy.

Normally, I would have avoided her, but on that day I gently spoke to her, calmed her down, helped her make her purchases and guided her to the checkout. Outside the supermarket, I approached the homeless people who hung out there begging for money, and spent some time listening to their stories and for the first time really appreciated how they had suffered.

On the walk home from the shop I was hit by revelation after revelation about the true nature and purpose of life and the importance of every single human being, no matter how far they had strayed from their true Self. I could sense the presence of alternate worlds, in juxtaposition with our own but normally veiled from our perceptions. After I got home, I lay down and let the continuing stream of higher consciousness wash over me for the next few hours. I phoned a few good friends and shared some of what I was experiencing with them.

This altered state lasted for the next two or three days, gradually fading until my consciousness returned to normal, but I was forever changed by the experience. I don't remember everything from that time, but a surprising number of the "cosmic" revelations stayed with me to this day.

In case you're wondering, no, I had not taken any hallucinogenic substances! However I had been running on adrenaline and very little sleep for several weeks due to a very heavy and demanding period both at work and home.

I've not experienced anything this powerful since, though I've come close on a few other occasions. I still remember the overwhelming joy and the expanded perceptions - perhaps this is what true enlightenment truly feels like? No wonder people such as the Dali Lama or Nelson Mandela always seem so happy, despite the hardships they have endured. It also explains why most spiritual traditions insist on the importance of spending many years of discipline and training from their disciples. Without this training, we are simply not equipped to function at the higher level of consciousness I briefly experienced.

Part of me longs to go back to that state, but I know that I lack the discipline and wisdom to function like that for very long. My brain cells would probably burn out or short-circuit from the overload - I certainly would not be able to hold down a job and would probably be referred for a psychiatric assessment at the very least!

Still, if this is our ultimate potential as a species, then we should be doing everything in our power to get there asap! Unfortunately, we are a long, long way from this and we have a massive task in front of us, to not merely survive the coming climactic upheavals, but to ensure that every single human soul can reach this state of Nirvana!
 

the state i am in

Active member
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
2,475
MBTI Type
infj
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
you sound like the girl in amelie when she decides to become a do-gooder. very infj. we can hear feeling like we've got a permanent stethoscope listening to people's lungs, head, heart, etc. and when our awareness is clicking, it's a beautiful sight to behold.
 

Apollanaut

Senior Mugwump
Joined
Aug 27, 2008
Messages
550
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
you sound like the girl in amelie when she decides to become a do-gooder. very infj. we can hear feeling like we've got a permanent stethoscope listening to people's lungs, head, heart, etc. and when our awareness is clicking, it's a beautiful sight to behold.

I must get around to watching that movie. I bought the DVD ages ago, and I know I'll enjoy it.

This thought has been on my mind lately: Fe as a function does not just relate to people. It's hard to describe, but it's like being part of a complex web of connections to everything I consider important: people, objects, animals, places, even abstract concepts and ideas. The interconnections are not intellectual, they are more tangible than that, as if they were physical strings that I can reach out and touch. Feelings can be transmitted both ways through these connections.

It is Fe, not Fi, because it is all about categories of relationships, it tells me that Fred is a dear friend, that I cannot fully trust Angela, that Susan and Michael are having marital problems, that something is unsettling about a certain building, that I like my house more than John's, but less than Ian's, that an advertising hoarding is trying to present a certain image, but hasn't got it right.

The Feeling web changes as the relationships do, if an acquaintance does something unexpectedly kind for me, my connection to them will become much stronger and more positive, and vice versa.

Sorry, I'm rambling again! I'll shut up now, as this aside isn't really relevant to this thread. :offtopic:
 

the state i am in

Active member
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
2,475
MBTI Type
infj
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5w4
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sx/sp
feeling-tones, shades of colour, hues of meaning/emotion, we are producers of meaning but we catch them skirting along in the air around us. we CONNECT to everything. then we arrange. it flows thru us. we refract it and amplify it and elicit it from others, helping it take shape, giving it a form of expression. we devour the feeling attached to objects like different flavors of ice cream. everything is different but has a feel, a mood, a melody.

i have to listen to music or hum a song to keep myself activated, alive, awake. feed myself or i will starve to death. we are extremely sensitive to the attitudes and impressions that make up the others of our environment at all times. we imagine what is inside of others, we are listening for clues, secrets, holding our jangling ring of keys looking for the one that works, that unlocks- we want to know the truth of what this inner voice before us truly sounds like.

what you are describing to me sounds like a balance of Ni and Fe. they are definitely what we are made up of. we embody and internalize all of these webs of meaning, interconnected and ecological feelings, conceptualizations metaphors patterns and ideas. but the colour is really the key. we'd be larry miller b & w intjs without it (not a knock). we'd be more focused, less scattered and diffusive.
 

Siúil a Rúin

when the colors fade
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
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...Sorry, I'm rambling again! I'll shut up now, as this aside isn't really relevant to this thread. :offtopic:
Please ramble. This is an old thread in need of evolving. INFJ is a funny category in which people can throw all kinds of conflicting ideas. The list of famous infjs people have proposed have nothing in common except that they are hard to type. Because of infj being associated with the mysterious and withdrawn, I think it is an easy category to place those things which are hard to understand. Oh well. It makes it more interesting that way I suppose.
 

himynameisdead

New member
Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
21
MBTI Type
iNfj
Enneagram
9w8
I used to think I might be infp, enfp, entp, intj, intp, then I took many variations of the test many times and scored between intj and infj, intuition at 90~100, feeling 45~55, thinking 45~55, perceiving/judging 45~55,(oh, introversion was like... >9000) then I took the function test and realized how much my extraverted thinking sucks, and how I'm much more Fe than Fi. I deducted I must be iNfj, but I'm still insecure about it, and I don't want to call myself because it's "unique" or whatever everybody else claims(and evidently takes pride in). I want to say I identify with it because it fits, and it symbolizes how I react to things and whatnot. but it doesn't completely, since it's kind of just a theoretical model and archetype, so that's why I struggle with keeping the label. and I generally don't like labels, anyways :mad: they're misleading.
 

Thalassa

Permabanned
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May 3, 2009
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25,183
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ISFP
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6w7
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sx
I originally tested as INFJ when I was seventeen and was disappointed...I thought that INFP sounded nicer, somehow. I kept testing INFJ over the years.

Then I came here and was told that I seemed NFP and that I should beware of all of the people who are mistyped as INFJ, so rather than offend others or not be taken seriously or *gasp* be wrong, I went along with NFP. There seemed to be convincing evidence in function theory that I could be either INFP or ENFP, and there were very pushy people around who seemed quite pleased to tell me just what type I was.

Funny thing is, though, when people from this site met me in person I got ENFJ, INFJ, and "seems suprisingly IxFJ" and one person who couldn't seem to drop the idea that I was ISFJ. Add this to the fact that I am still very much always and forever a Keirsey INFJ, I really have become suspicious of function theory and the people trying to tell me what my type is on the Internet...even though there are a few here who do seem to believe ENFJ, I wonder if they realize how much I'm just an "Internet extrovert" and not a real extrovert.

I sometimes wonder if people decided that I wasn't INFJ simply because I didn't meet their SFJ idea of what Fe is supposed to be. I am of the opinion that many self-typed INFJs on-line are actually ISFJs and that may be where the problem lies.

In any event, I've begun to dismiss function theory for the comical errors and disagreements I frequently find in the threads debating the functions. It seems rather odd to me, too, that the very same behavior can be described by infinitely different combinations of functions i.e. "no you're doing that because you're ENFJ Fe/Ni/Se...no no no ISFP you're just using more Fi/Ni than Se...well maybe you're just using a lot of Te or have a strong STJ shadow as an NFP."
 

Lily flower

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Jun 28, 2010
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You say that everyone seems to have an INFJ ex. Maybe INFJ's really just date a lot of people :yes:
 

Lily flower

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Jun 28, 2010
Messages
930
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INFJ
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2
I always test as an INFJ, even though I often think the INFP descriptions describe me better. I took a cognitive functions test, though, and it pegged me as an INFJ as well. I felt the cognitive test was a much better indicator, because the MBTI tests are often very obvious, once you know the types.
 

skylights

i love
Joined
Jul 6, 2010
Messages
7,756
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
6w7
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so/sx
i like appolanaut's old ramblings :)

i had one professor who i have absolutely no doubt in my mind is 110% INFJ. counseling prof, quiet, very good at directing conversational flow, somehow a bit stern in a kind way, always early, soothing voice, has a piercing stare like no one else i've ever met. :yes:
 

Ethan Bear

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Apr 14, 2011
Messages
44
MBTI Type
INFJ
The don't have to be withdrawn. that is their (our) natural state of predisposition. I used to be very withdrawn but through the events of high school I became convinced that the social aspects of life wasnt something that would come naturally so I put fourth effort. I really truly am a INFJ but the social things i do can appear at a distance as extroverted. this brings me to my point, I believe that these profiles are an amazing way to describe people but they do not define them. But this is an older thread and im probably kicking a dead horse. But I wouldn't be surprised if many are miss classified.
 

d'lene

New member
Joined
Apr 8, 2011
Messages
10
MBTI Type
infj
Enneagram
5w6
After reading more information on INFJs, I'm convinced that people are mistyped as INFJs very, very often. Many mistypings are actually ISFJs, and some are ISFPs. Some may even be ISTJs because of their clear-cut sense of right and wrong, and possibly some INTJs for those who are focused on intellectual pursuits.

From readings on this and the INTP forums, everyone and their dog seems to have an INFJ ex and that is pretty unlikely imo. :holy: I can see how a person would assume an introverted feeler who is structured or inflexible is an INFJ, but that is not accurate. Their primary function is Ni, which is not women's intuition, but an extremely abstract approach to life. It is a rare type, very private, one of the most conceptual of all the types, etc. There are many introverted feelers who need a great deal of private time, have complex emotions, and a deep sense of altruism. These people are not necessarily INFJs. Most of the quicky tests don't really give reliable results. The INFJ profile on some such sites even uses the word psychic to describe them. That right there will draw in all the introverts who want (or worse think they have) super powers. INFJs are less than 1% of the population and withdrawn, complex, extremely abstract... it's somewhat unlikely the average person will get to know one well, let alone date one. Thoughts? This has just been my impression which could well be flawed.

INFJ

INFJ Profile



Annwn, I think you are really on to something and what you say makes sense to me.
 

Reverie

In orbit
Joined
Jul 28, 2011
Messages
291
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w3
Instinctual Variant
sx
[MENTION=4855]Apollonaut [/MENTION] I've had a very similar experience. I love buddhist thought and the idea that we're carried to enlightenment by two wings: compassion and wisdom. I think many people with dominant Ni have experiences that defy traditional rational explanations. They don't come with name tags though and trying to figure out the meaning of the experiences, what they are in fact, is something that reflects the individual personality of the Ni dom. I personally take the mystic approach but some others don't relate to it at all and take a psychological approach as some kind of a psychological integrating peak experience. Words are just very poor tools in this...and I'm not trying to be purposefully vague. It's just what it is.
You say that everyone seems to have an INFJ ex. Maybe INFJ's really just date a lot of people :yes:
:notthechildren:;)
 
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