Posted by Derf on June 30, 1999 at 10:35:55:
In Reply to: Derf - I remember you way back when... posted by Summer on June 30, 1999 at 09:40:59:
: Hey Derf, since I've been on these boards (and it must be 2 years now) I remember you as one of the early posters who used to post alot. Didn't you think you were some other type back then, or is my memory failing? (like a 4w5?)
: How did you determine you were a 4w3? (same type as my brother)
Hey Summer,
I remember you from a long time ago, well past a year, but I didn't realize you had actually been with us since the board started (mid-to-late '97, about 2 years ago). There aren't many of us, are there?
It took time for the subtleties of the types to sink in. I tested 4w5 at first, and accepted, even preferred, that "reading," but a long (and sometimes surprising) search into my past mentality revealed more 3 energy in myself than I had first estimated.
Here's how I think the 3 wing helps me:
* I let things slide, and let go of hard feelings easily. I get over depressions quickly.
* I have a concern for physical well-being, appearance, and financial security.
* I put stock in the way people see me, therefore I don't get lost in my own unchecked will too often.
* I conceal and rationalize my emotions, stressing Nine-like agreeability.
* Self-improvement really does occupy my attention. I might call it a healthy obsession.
On the other hand, these advantages can backfire:
* I resent myself for disallowing myself "inappropriate" assertions of personal concern in an attempt to seem poised and unfazable.
* My concern for surface appearances, productivity, and "usefulness" in people, though it is latent, taints my ability to appreciate the deeper aspects of human nature.
* I sometimes lose my own initiative in my desire to please others and maintain my acceptability.
* The suppressed emotions that I have deemed "inappropriate" or "unattractive" remain, and cause much stress.
* I have unrealistically high expectations of myself, and habitually reject my true self in favor of an imaginary "self" that impresses me more.
Also....
* I am usually comfortable performing (giving speeches, playing roles, debating, teamworking, etc.), but I am socially uncomfortable.
* I worry too much about whether or not people like me, my persona, and my work.
* Though this "shadow" of my psyche is present, it is latent and therefore less detectable in me than it would be in, say, a 3w4. Therefore, not only does my 3-wing demand that I repress my emotions; my primary 4 fixation, also, makes an even stronger demand that my 3-wing remain at least appropriately subdued.
I don't know how similar this picture is to that of a 4w5 in the way that they feel on the inside. I hope I have been informative, if vague.
-Derf