So the other day in class, we were talking about self-awareness. I had the students take the Jung personality test to help them get a better sense of their strengths and weaknesses, plus there were lots of good new vocab words on the test for us to discuss! So, win-win :) In any case, I ended up taking the test myself, and woah, it was dead on. According to the Jung personality test there are 16 different personality types, each corresponding to a 4 letter combination. My combination was INFP. But while I thought the test was really awesome and scarily accurate, I kind of just set it aside after class and didn´t think much more of it.
However, I´ve been in a bit of a funk this week. Having lots of mixed emotions. I´ve loved my time here so far, but at the same time, a little thought in the back of my head keeps asking me what the hell am I doing here? I want this time to be a productive growing period, in which I can hopefully figure out what it is that I want/need out of life. But those things are still eluding me. I took a long time to reflect on things the other day and for some reason the personality test popped back up in my head. I decided to do a quick google search for careers that would be good for an INFP personality type. And then I stumbled onto this site, which relayed the following info:
INFPs do not want just any job or career. They want to do something they love, something they are passionate about. They want to use their creative gifts and abilities in ways that bring personal fulfillment and contribute to the greater good; settling for a mediocre or mundane career seems unacceptable to this personality type. Money is rarely a strong motivator for INFPs, who generally care little about material comforts or possessions. They’d rather be doing what they love and living in a shack than get rich performing unsatisfying work.
The quest for a suitable career cannot be divorced from INFPs’ search for identity. Before settling on a career path, INFPs want to know who they are and where they fit into the fabric of the working world. They want a career that capitalizes on their unique abilities, coincides with their values, and ignites their drives and passions. Because most jobs fail to consistently inspire them, INFPs often end up feeling restless and dissatisfied. Even those with a college degree may struggle to find long-term career satisfaction.
What! So it´s not my fault I´m so messed up about all this stuff? Good, well that´s comforting. The article went on to say the following:
INFP career-seekers may feel stunted by any number of perceived barriers. They may be afraid of taking risks or feel they don’t themselves or their skills/interests well enough. Some may look at their track record of unfinished projects and wonder if they will ever find what they are seeking. It is important for INFPs to recognize that this is all very normal. The fact is that they need to experiment and experience life in order to find themselves. They differ from INJs in this respect, who feel they can know what they like or what they might be good at without needing to trial it first. INFPs need to realize that all their “dead-ends” are not in vain. All of their experiences and lessons learned can be internalized and integrated as part of their career development. Moreover, despite the apparent challenges of finding their career niche, INFPs typically have a reasonable number of good career options.
Ok, well it´s good to know that all this is normal. Still not that comforting that I need to run into a bunch of dead ends before I find my path in life, but I guess if it´s what I have to do, its what I have to do. Any prayers for my continued growth and a little enlightenment on finding my right path would be greatly appreciated. Abrazos fuertes, I miss you all.
On another note, I suppose it was appropriate that I had a teaching conference yesterday, and that the main quote discussed in the conference was this: "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." And well, after feeling a little down all day that day, I tried to do just that. I dragged myself off my all-together too comfy, but slightly depressing bed, and headed out for the night in an attempt to get myself out of this funk.
Lindsay, Sophia, and I all met up at the "Casa de Arte," a mini-cultural center here in Santiago. They were holding a "Fiesta de Palos" celebration, which is a traditional African celebration popular among the slaves brought to the Dominican Republic and which focuses mainly on the use of percussion.
The night was all fluttering candle light, and swinging rhythms, set against a backdrop of vibrant Dominican artwork. And somewhere between the driving beat of the drums and the flowing rum and orange juice cocktails, I found myself being dragged out on the floor to dance. Nobody was safe from this and I guess I was no exception. I can't say that I completely shook off all my blues, but it was a good start.
However, I´ve been in a bit of a funk this week. Having lots of mixed emotions. I´ve loved my time here so far, but at the same time, a little thought in the back of my head keeps asking me what the hell am I doing here? I want this time to be a productive growing period, in which I can hopefully figure out what it is that I want/need out of life. But those things are still eluding me. I took a long time to reflect on things the other day and for some reason the personality test popped back up in my head. I decided to do a quick google search for careers that would be good for an INFP personality type. And then I stumbled onto this site, which relayed the following info:
INFPs do not want just any job or career. They want to do something they love, something they are passionate about. They want to use their creative gifts and abilities in ways that bring personal fulfillment and contribute to the greater good; settling for a mediocre or mundane career seems unacceptable to this personality type. Money is rarely a strong motivator for INFPs, who generally care little about material comforts or possessions. They’d rather be doing what they love and living in a shack than get rich performing unsatisfying work.
The quest for a suitable career cannot be divorced from INFPs’ search for identity. Before settling on a career path, INFPs want to know who they are and where they fit into the fabric of the working world. They want a career that capitalizes on their unique abilities, coincides with their values, and ignites their drives and passions. Because most jobs fail to consistently inspire them, INFPs often end up feeling restless and dissatisfied. Even those with a college degree may struggle to find long-term career satisfaction.
What! So it´s not my fault I´m so messed up about all this stuff? Good, well that´s comforting. The article went on to say the following:
INFP career-seekers may feel stunted by any number of perceived barriers. They may be afraid of taking risks or feel they don’t themselves or their skills/interests well enough. Some may look at their track record of unfinished projects and wonder if they will ever find what they are seeking. It is important for INFPs to recognize that this is all very normal. The fact is that they need to experiment and experience life in order to find themselves. They differ from INJs in this respect, who feel they can know what they like or what they might be good at without needing to trial it first. INFPs need to realize that all their “dead-ends” are not in vain. All of their experiences and lessons learned can be internalized and integrated as part of their career development. Moreover, despite the apparent challenges of finding their career niche, INFPs typically have a reasonable number of good career options.
Ok, well it´s good to know that all this is normal. Still not that comforting that I need to run into a bunch of dead ends before I find my path in life, but I guess if it´s what I have to do, its what I have to do. Any prayers for my continued growth and a little enlightenment on finding my right path would be greatly appreciated. Abrazos fuertes, I miss you all.
On another note, I suppose it was appropriate that I had a teaching conference yesterday, and that the main quote discussed in the conference was this: "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." And well, after feeling a little down all day that day, I tried to do just that. I dragged myself off my all-together too comfy, but slightly depressing bed, and headed out for the night in an attempt to get myself out of this funk.
Lindsay, Sophia, and I all met up at the "Casa de Arte," a mini-cultural center here in Santiago. They were holding a "Fiesta de Palos" celebration, which is a traditional African celebration popular among the slaves brought to the Dominican Republic and which focuses mainly on the use of percussion.
The night was all fluttering candle light, and swinging rhythms, set against a backdrop of vibrant Dominican artwork. And somewhere between the driving beat of the drums and the flowing rum and orange juice cocktails, I found myself being dragged out on the floor to dance. Nobody was safe from this and I guess I was no exception. I can't say that I completely shook off all my blues, but it was a good start.
Lindsay ran into her old dance professor, who tried to teach us a thing of two.
Now shimmy!
Sophia, the dancing queen
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