u/Loslosia

Pretty fun, groovy little track. Nothing too serious

It only lasts a couple seconds but does anyone recognize this song? I love the production

Of the many hardships of being an INFP, this is a very underrated one, but maybe not one that every INFP realizes, because many of us don’t choose life paths that require heavy use of Se. I didn’t, until I became a wildland firefighter and ambulance EMT, where in both cases situational awareness, and confident, decisive adaptability, are some of the most core necessities.

My baseline is to more or less tune out the physical world. It takes either something that catches my interest, or focused effort, to pull me out of my Fi-Ne headspace. And even when I do pay attention, it’s not sustained, as I constantly and automatically switch back to an inward, reflective mode. As a result, I tend to miss so much information around me. When people are talking, I may or may not hear what they’re saying, or maybe I’ll listen until I latch onto something interesting and then turn inward to process it, but then miss the rest of the message.

I’m also extremely clumsy, which is interesting because I’m a not a bad athlete, but that again points to clumsiness from lack of awareness rather than lack of coordination despite awareness.

I also feel out of touch with the reactive and adaptable elements of Se. Too much happening too quickly is very overwhelming, and I often need more time to consult my other functions on how to respond to a rapidly evolving situation. Especially since I was probably already not taking in the lay of the land, so I then have to play catch up.

I’ve always thought of myself as smart, but what intelligence I have is more the abstract and academic kind. But particularly in wildland fire (EMS is more academic), I am kind of a fucking moron, because a hyper-present, concrete, practical mind is king. Not noticing simple visual details, having a deficient awareness of what is going on around you, comes across as lack of comprehension or ability to comprehend, especially to people with strong Se who assume other people experience the world like them.

So I really get down on myself sometimes! And then what inevitably happens is that I will turn inward to process these emotions, which just increases the Se-blindness, leading to a possible spiral. I’ve REALLY tried to get better but it’s a huge struggle. And yes, I am diagnosed ADHD inattentive, which overlaps greatly with what I’m talking about, but I think to chalk it up to ADHD is too superficial. This feels like a core aspect of how my mind works.

Does anyone relate? How have you managed or mitigated this?