Hi you other NF's! I was wondering if the following "issues" are common among NF's...
Yes to all of the questions. I actually can't help asking in my mind "doesn't everyone do this"... It comes very automatically and naturally to me. At least the people reading part. Sometimes the empathy isn't there, but that is usually when I am doubting the persons motives (this intervenes, since I can't empathize if I don't know they really are feeling what they are feeling).
Another question for NF's:
When meeting with new people, do you "feel" the person you meet? (Not physically, but in your "mind"/"body")
My own experience:
Some people "feel" very warm when meeting them. It's a soothing feeling of comfort with them. They don't actually feel warm when I touch them nor do I feel actually warmness in me, but I describe the feeling I get from them as warmness.
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Or is just that I personally react to certain emotions with certain feelings in myself and it's not actually about how the other person is, but more like how I connect emotions to certain "feeling responses" in myself?
I've come to trust this instinct. I don't usually pay attention to it if the feeling I get is either good or something I understand. It's like, mostly I can guess pretty accurately the things people are stressed about, or actually, what I see are their defenses. But I never act on it, if it is something normal, there's nothing to worry about. But then there are the people I get all kinds of weird vibes from. I will watch out for them... Too many times I should have been more careful with certain people.
I guess this skill is about body language and interpreting how it fits a situation. It is hard to trust this fully, though, since how can I know when I am projecting?
Even more common is an outsized confidence that they've read people correctly.
Good reminder.
Kind of like the way where you flip through tv channels, only see a quick blip of some movie, and you get an idea of what it is. Except I usually don't mind looking closer. Even though some people might have something recognizable about them, they're always unique too. As long as they're pleasant people, I wouldn't mind the company, and I would eventually see something that surprises me (and I kind of want to be surprised..in a good way at least).
That's a great metaphor.