LinearOrbit
New member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2009
- Messages
- 11
- MBTI Type
- INTJ
- Enneagram
- 5w4
I think that the part of the INTJ description - "... relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ's Achilles heel." - is uncomfortably close for me. Many of my friends are still optimistic about me, but honestly, I've always been single (I'm 27); I have a cyclical pattern when it comes to women, and I don't actually see this changing in the foreseeable future.
It goes like this:
The upshot of honesty is that it let me get over it all and move on - but there were still one or two questions I wanted answered, and in the name of closure, I sent her an email, pretty much a "Hi, how are you? Look, I'm still a little puzzled, and it's frustrating me, what did I miss?" kind of thing. But a few days after that, I had the "Aha!" breakthrough I needed (the rules and nuances of Fe are _not_ obvious ), preceding her reply later on, that she felt totally apathetic towards me, that relationships aren't transactional, that she didn't even want a friendship with me, she could see I wasn't a bad person, but that I had to move on.
So I spelt things out honestly and openly:
Bear in mind that up until this point we'd had very little contact indeed - perhaps three or four brief conversations to go with the contact mentioned here. I'd found my closure, and I figured it was a simple case of both of us reverting to being entirely disinterested in the other person any more: that's simple and tidy.
Except NOW she's paying attention to me. Before all this, we were unlikely to ever have said a word to each other. But at subsequent wedding we were both at, she walked up as I was chatting to her brother and I could feel her 'feelers' reaching out to gauge me (and hit a wall). And we happened to be at a party subsequently, and she specifically came up to give a cat I was holding a stroke, and said goodbye to me afterwards (previously we wouldn't even have done that). And I've noticed her looking at me several times since then, but mostly it's that very subtle kind of attention, where you simply keep track of the other person.
I really want to put the whole situation firmly behind me, and I believe the complete apathy about me that she described, but I find someone noticing me is very distracting. (I don't even think it's particularly fair of her to show any interest now!) Mostly though, it just gives rise to the question of "Huh?". Can someone who know how any of this lot works clue me in?
It goes like this:
- I get interested in dating someone roughly every 2-3 years
- I lose my ability to think properly whenever she's around
- Fi demands that until I'm sane again, I don't embarrass the living heck out of myself and make a horrible impression or make her life unpleasant by interacting with her
- I fade completely into the background while trying to master the basics of speech
- After several months, I manage to approach her, and completely over-do things (after all, at this stage, she'll barely know me, while I'll be 2 IQ points away from a discouraging medical diagnosis)
- She politely declines any of my suggestions (coffee, etc.)
- I back away, and after a few months of much soul-searching, work out some new details of what I should have done differently
- Wash, rinse, repeat
The upshot of honesty is that it let me get over it all and move on - but there were still one or two questions I wanted answered, and in the name of closure, I sent her an email, pretty much a "Hi, how are you? Look, I'm still a little puzzled, and it's frustrating me, what did I miss?" kind of thing. But a few days after that, I had the "Aha!" breakthrough I needed (the rules and nuances of Fe are _not_ obvious ), preceding her reply later on, that she felt totally apathetic towards me, that relationships aren't transactional, that she didn't even want a friendship with me, she could see I wasn't a bad person, but that I had to move on.
So I spelt things out honestly and openly:
You can relax. I've done all that. Yes, it was a weird way to work through things, but I got there in the end, and seeing as how no one else - including you - was involved in this, that's what matters.
I didn't get there until after my email, but at some point during last week I finally clicked. (Let me take the time to note here that - this email aside - there's nothing else for me to say to you now.) I finally realized how some people - like you - see their social roles, etc, and it makes it all work properly.
Initially, I really wasn't sure what you were rejecting. I know I made a lousy first impression - you do this thing where you tune into the other person's mind, and so do I, and it ended up being a completely unexpected kind of "echo-room of silence" in my head whenever I thought about you, which was phenomenally difficult to get to the bottom of. (As you'll know, with the right person, that can be quite a trip, but that's just a fairly pointless side-note here.)
Anyway, between those two points, it all fits/makes sense - now that I actually get it, it's straightforward; your rejection remains firmly complete. No worries. I have my understanding, and with it, closure. There's no conflict, nor bothersome thoughts left to figure out. I never spent time trying to find out much about you, because there's only pain to be had that way if it didn't work out. So thankfully there's very little to leave behind... and I'm pretty sure you'll continue to be unaffected.
Last point, for completeness: you can try to sound as unattractive as possible to put me off "And I dont think i want you to get to know me. I'm really not that interesting."- don't worry, your disinterest was sufficient - but I know exactly what the good parts that I was looking at were. You were wrong there.
Bear in mind that up until this point we'd had very little contact indeed - perhaps three or four brief conversations to go with the contact mentioned here. I'd found my closure, and I figured it was a simple case of both of us reverting to being entirely disinterested in the other person any more: that's simple and tidy.
Except NOW she's paying attention to me. Before all this, we were unlikely to ever have said a word to each other. But at subsequent wedding we were both at, she walked up as I was chatting to her brother and I could feel her 'feelers' reaching out to gauge me (and hit a wall). And we happened to be at a party subsequently, and she specifically came up to give a cat I was holding a stroke, and said goodbye to me afterwards (previously we wouldn't even have done that). And I've noticed her looking at me several times since then, but mostly it's that very subtle kind of attention, where you simply keep track of the other person.
I really want to put the whole situation firmly behind me, and I believe the complete apathy about me that she described, but I find someone noticing me is very distracting. (I don't even think it's particularly fair of her to show any interest now!) Mostly though, it just gives rise to the question of "Huh?". Can someone who know how any of this lot works clue me in?