Thursday, July 31, 2008

Me Me Me and The Tragic Motif

UPDATE: I've added a helpful link to a personality test at the end of this post.

Yes...it's Willful Grace, where you get all Pam, all the time.

Frankly, I'm ready for school to start just so I can stop obsessing over myself. My current train of obsession is puffing down the Myers-Briggs railroad. I have a love/hate relationship with Myers-Briggs profiling. Here's the part I love:

(i'm INFP, by the way)

INFP's may demonstrate a cool reserve toward others, but they are anything but distant. They have a capacity for caring which is not always found in other types. They care deeply - indeed, passionately - about a few special persons or a cause. On word that captures this type is idealistic. At times, this characteristic leaves them feeling isolated, especially since INFPs are found in only 1 percent of the general population. INFPs have a profound sense of honor derived from internal values. The INFP is the Prince or Princess of mythology, the King's Champion, Defender of the Faith, and guardian of the castle. Joan of Arc is the female prototype of an INFP. They are willing to make unusual sacrifices for someone or something believed in.

ok....that all sounds pretty cool.....and THEN....there's this:

INFPs seek unity in their lives, unity of body and mind, emotions and intellect. They often have a subtle tragic motif running through their lives, but others seldom detect this inner minor key. Their deep commitment to the positive and the good causes them to be alert to the negative and the evil, which can take the form of a fascination with the profane. They may live a paradox, drawn toward purity and unity but looking over the shoulder toward the sullied and desecrated. When INFPs believe that they have yielded to an impure temptation, they may be given to acts of self-sacrifice in atonement.

That part pretty much sucks. I want a new motif. The subtle tragic one has been much less than subtle lately. Well....actually, it's been about a decade of tragic motif for me and I'd like to trade this motif in for a new one.

So, I'm thinking about this and wondering "WHY does my personality bring about a tragic motif?" and then I realize that the tragic motif comes from being over-analytical about EVERYthing.

I'm screwed.

If you know your Myers-Briggs profile share it with me. I'm interested.

love and grace,
pam

P.S. Tdub is an ENFP which makes him alot like me only less tragic and more peoplish.

Here's a link to a free YES/NO Myers-Briggs.
I took it to see if I still came out INFP, and I did.

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21 comments:

Iain said...

Yaay! Just took an online test, which involved answering lots of impertinent Yes/No type questions and I turned up INFP as well. Snap! So I'm a tragic loser as well!

I seem to remember taking the test about 20 years ago and coming out INTP, so maybe I've got a little soft in my old age!

Trouble was, some of the Yes/No questions were hard to answer. I wanted to have three options:

Yes/No/Meh!

Traveler said...

Pam:
That is so weird that T-dub is ENFP.... so am I! I've found Myers-Briggs to be extremely helpful to me... in fact I want to make it a part of my doctoral thesis (something on Myers-Briggs and spirituality and LGBT community...probably streching a bit there - lol) Start the PhD. (hopefully depending on what the divorce does) this fall.
Jim

grace said...

Iain: I think "meh" is an INFP sort of answer. So tragic. ;)

Jim: Do you know what your "ex" is? It's weird because a BUNCH of my "activist" friends are also INFP...and it's a 1% personality...but...that 1% tends to get to know each other since we are all about some cause.

Robert said...

I don't recall how I have scored on prior Myers Briggs tests. This is how I scored on this particular test:

Your Type is
INFP
Introverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving
Strength of the preferences %
56 25 12 33


You are:

moderately expressed introvert

moderately expressed intuitive personality

slightly expressed feeling personality

moderately expressed perceiving personality

Iain said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Iain said...

Grace said:
Iain: I think "meh" is an INFP sort of answer. So tragic. ;)

Iain says:
Meh. :-)

Oops! Spoilt the effect with the smiley face!

Actually I just re-took it on a different test and came out INTP.

So does this mean that on the Thinking-Feeling axis, the picture is really:

Thinking------Meh------Feeling

Nope, I think it doesn't suggest indifference; more a well-balanced personality with the opposites in dynamic balance. Part of me is the rational scientist, and the other part the poet, or the one who gets moved by a Mahler song. (Well that's me trying to put a positive spin on it! How tragic!!)

Wonder what God's Myers-Briggs personality is. On my "dynamic balance" theory, He'd be a 17th personality type:

MMMM. Perfection.

Can feel/think a blog post coming on ...

grace said...

ROBERT!!: It's so comforting somehow to know you "lurk". ;) HMMM...do INFPs run in 1% packs?? or what??
But... with your lawyering exploits to right the wrongs of the world...i guess it doesn't surprise me that you are INFP. It's just so odd that there are so many of us all in one lump. I happen to know that our friend Peterson is also INFP. Makes total sense for him as well, though, ya know?

You know Robert...I think your "F" might really be a "T"...at least that's what my own "F" is telling me. hmmm...

Thanks for "unlurking" yourself long enough to come out and play my game!

Iain: I look forward to that post of yours!

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I came out ISFP on the test you linked to. Other tests I've taken in the past peg me as a fellow INFP, however.

Kat said...

ENFP here, but a couple of times I took the test and I was an XNFP, that is the "E and I" column was equal. I have moments when I'm very introverted, but mostly when I'm down, I want to be with people.

Kat said...

ENFP here, but a couple of times I took the test and I was an XNFP, that is the "E and I" column was equal. I have moments when I'm very introverted, but mostly when I'm down, I want to be with people.

Kat said...

don't know HOW the repeat happened. sorry......haven't had breakfast yet.

grace said...

Jarred: Hmmm....well...I think at that point you just read the profiles and see which one really matches you.

Kat: Good to hear from you!! Even in double comments...are you ready for school to start? I'm actually very even on the I/E as well...but I'm definately an introvert at heart because being with people WEARS ME OUT.

Norm! said...

I remember ten years ago I was ISTP. Now taking the test my results are ISTJ like Lance Armstrong, Warren Buffet, Donald Rumsfeld, Greta Garbo. Not sure I like being thrown in with Rumsfield.

Iain said...

Grace said:

Iain: I look forward to that post of yours!

I say:
Meh.

No, actually I say ..

blog updated, come and get it...

Anonymous said...

Well, once again I'm INTJ. If the test had just asked me to choose the four characteristics that best describe me, I would have picked those, so it's probably measuring me right.

Traveler said...

Pam:
No, I'm not sure what she is.... she took it ages ago and I seem to recall that she might have been an ENFJ....
BTW I have taken the test three times and always come out as ENFP. I must be very consistent...lol...

t-dub said...

news flash!

apparently i've become an ESFJ!!?? what the heck?

i zipped through the test trying not to get hung up on the hard ones (to wit "When considering a situation you pay more attention to the current situation and less to a possible sequence of events" what the heck?!!?) which really just means i'm not really good at thinking like that or i'd rather not have to. hmmmmmmm interesting...

so what gives? what changed?

fascinating stuff.

now, onto mothering some more. ;)

David said...

I've taken this sort of thing before and I came up with INTJ (which I guess is not surprising). Love ya, Pam.

Robert said...

Yes, I have to agree. I think I am more of a "T" than a "P." The "I" is right on, though.

B said...

Hi! I just stumbled upon your blog. I like it! I am an ESTP, also known as "the Conqueror." Apparently we are the "entertainers" of the Myers-Briggs world, always cracking jokes and keeping people going. That makes sense.

Christine Bakke said...

Hey Pam, I'm an INFP no matter what test I take. Although I'd prefer not to think of myself as a "tragic loser" ha - but I do relate somewhat to what you're saying.

(((hugs)))