Posted by Hal on July 01, 1998 at 13:12:56:
In Reply to: Re: Telling 3 from 7 -> 4 and 7 'wild side' posted by Summer on June 30, 1998 at 16:28:39:
: Well, maybe its just me! By the wild side, I mean when fours are feeling comfortable & in comfortable situations, they can overindulge in drinking/drugs, (maybe at some point in their lives) acting crazy, partying, moving towards excitement, anything with intensity, etc. I have seen other fours who have this side as well, though I don't think fours let just ANYONE see that side to them. Do any other fours out there know what I mean? -( its really me, Lauren, under a different name for privacy reasons.)
Yeah, I do kind of know what you mean. One stereotype of a typical 4 is the hippie, drug-using tpye, but there's much more to it than that.
I certainly agree that we don't let everyone see our wild sides. Now that I think about it, this could be what causes so much tension in my life--I feel like I have a wild side, but I keep it tightly under wraps unless I really feel safe and comfortable; and I don't feel comfortable very often. So it becomes a very introverted wild side, which is not very satisfying. There's a deep longing to experience that side, but at the same time a terrible (and I'm sure irrational) fear of letting it out.
Now I can see more of that similarity between 4 and 7: we both crave excitement and intensity, but we 4's are much more afraid of it, while 7's are just afraid of being without it. Conflicted behavior is a terrible thing. So many 4's do tend to deal with this is destructive ways, like drugs, alcohol, constant partying. I personally have put my intensity into things like weightlifting, which while not destructive, really sidesteps the issue of being comfortable expressing my wild side. It's more of that introverted wild-ness, so it's not very satisfying in the long run because that wild part really needs to come out for me to find any peace.
- Hal -