Boring Old Present

INFPs are a natural well of immagination. They can't help it. To them, 'Reality'is like one big bouncy-ball and whenever their attention hits its surface their thoughts are sent careening off into the distance in any number of directions (perhaps even several at once). It's almost as if the present reality repells them like a magnet turned the wrong direction, it's impossible for them to engage. Instead the INFP is like a satalite, floating just outside reality. This perspective can give them great insights into 'the big picture' of reality which others cannot see from down in the thick of things, as well as the even 'bigger picture' of possibilities beyond the current reality. It's really an amazing view up there in the ethereal realm of immagination, and great understanding and inspiration seem to come so naturally. It is there that INFPs are in their element!

Yet when they come down to connect with the present moment in the real world they often feel like aliens, not made for this place. Used to floating freely, gravity overwhelms them, their feet unsteady, their wings useless. Reality is not their natural habitat and they struggle to find their way where others find the path to be obvious.

One of the main difficulties for INFPs when attempting to engage the real world is that in contrast to their immaginations, in contrast to the world as it ought to be which they can see so clearly in their minds, the present seems too boring, and too wrong. They don't really want to engage it. Doing things in the here and now seems frightfully dull most of the time, and it's very hard to keep their attention focused on it. Rather like a history lecture. Anything else BUT the task at hand seems infinately more captivating. And thus they find themselves struggling to complete the everyday inbetween steps of life, fighting against their very nature, so it would seem. They want to focus on the vision, the hope. In their moment of inspiration they see the goal so clearly and they want to get there as instantly as thought. Their hands and legs feel clumsy in comparison and the here and now just feels like wasted time. Even though they understand how things must progress, they become much too impatient with all the in between steps, resenting the way the physical seems to lag soooo far behind their thoughts. They get frustrated when things don't progress smoothly and feel like reality is determined to go against their vision. When working out of their element they can become very easily overwhelmed and disheartened.

INFPs are great at coming up with new ideas and having insights about things (people in particular), but when they are set to carrying out the 'practical' tasks for making the ideas happen, they often feel very weighed down, impatient, bored, and uninspired. Thus many times people are confused by the apparent contradiction between the INFP's exuberance in presenting their vision, and then apparent disinterest in actually carrying it out. It isn't that they don't really care, it's that they can't figure out what to do, or can't keep themselves motivated in the mundane present. Inspiration is everything, it's what pulls them onward and keeps them going. But when they tune into the present reality, it is often hard for them to maintain that sense of inspiration.