ISFP - The Artists

The author of http://burstbubble-amondi.blogspot.com is of the type ISFP. The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people feel. They usually have a strong appreciation for art and beauty or things around them that affect the look, taste, sound or smell. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living. They genuinely care about people. They are extremely gifted at creating and composing things that stimulates the senses, such as art, music or food. They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They have no desire to lead others and they don't want to be led. ISFPs are sometimes not good at giving him/herself enough credit for things they did well. Common satisfying careers: Fashion Designer, Artists, Interior Designer, Landscape Architect, Nurse, Massage Therapist, Botanist, Teacher, Geologist, Translator, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist, Cosmetologist and Translator. Notable ISFPs: Ulysses S. Grant, Sofia Coppola, David Lynch, Brad Pitt, Michael Jackson, Beyonce, David Beckham, John Travolta, Liv Tylor, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Nero and Wicket the Ewok.

Limbo

The girls seemed to want to know each and every detail about my love life; albeit non-existent at the time. Some were so eager to have me in a relationship that they made it their mission to hook me up. If that did not work fast enough they kept throwing it in my face that well something must just be a tad off with me.

On the other hand I felt really comfortable around girls than guys. In particular around older women who came off as not being uncertain with what they wanted and also; how they lived their life. The Halle Berry photo in my journal gave me great joy to look at after a hard day. To top it all up, I did not take guys seriously.

I was ready to experiment but I did not want a commitment. I just wanted to sample and have a feel of what was out there. On the other hand I did not appreciate everyone’s super interest in my budding love life. I would have liked to sample without their making a big deal of it. This unfortunately did not go as I planned but was followed by a start and stop on my end because of the heavy scrutiny and my feeling as if I was under a microscope.

The girls quickly made an observation that my ‘relationships’ did not last more than three months. The record short interest on my part in a dude lasted a couple of hours. I was tired of their labeling my ‘relationships’ as being based on love. According to me they were based on like. I did not know what love was at that time. I was also sick of their running my ‘relationships’ for me. I tell them what I feel is going on and they continue to say otherwise especially what disrespect and plain rudeness meant. Talk of biased girl talk!

I came up with a list in my head of what to expect in relationships because I was clueless. You see I had missed my teenage. I had only experienced a short crush on two boys back when I was 12 and well we were kids then. I wanted to know what love was. I also wanted to be sure that I was emotionally mature before I jumped into the sack with anyone. At campus people were going at it and experimenting on sexuality at an ‘advanced’ stage but I was comfortable going slow. I really was clueless and I needed to figure all that out. I set out on a ‘fieldwork’ trying to figure out especially what love was.

According to my agenda sex was out of the question till such a time when I would be emotionally ready for it. It then followed that all the people I dated at that time did not get to have sex with me. In that time I became attached to people with my head not my heart. I zeroed in, on what they liked and carried a conversation all too well. Most girls got smitten and the boys loved the challenge.

However, I did not stay with the same girls or guys for long. My queue to leave was when they got too close and came back when they had moved on. Albeit being more than comfortable being just friends. I then further amended my agenda since people were getting hurt. I decided to only hang around bad boys and girls. I was of the opinion that I could not hurt a bad boy or girl because they do not get into relationships for long. At that point I was only learning about the ropes and truly believed that I did not have a lot to offer anyone emotionally.

I came to realize that what was ingrained in my psyche with regard to relationships did not feel good. I needed to start from scratch. Maybe that is what is called the rebellious characteristic of teenage years in which you basically look for what works for you.

I was in a quest of finding who I was and where I fit in. I sampled what felt good and what did not. I was in limbo. I wondered if there was a specific way I should behave. “Do guys want women to behave a certain way?” I knew that I was a tomboy through and through.

“How does a person be feminine?” I wondered if femininity could be learned?

Figuring it out

The pressure to be in a relationship had reached an all time high.  Talk of a lot of coupling going on in dormitories. Two by two was the order of the day and night. Noah’s ark was being given a run for its money. The inquisitions of why I wasn’t in one already was thrown around ever so much. My head was also swirling; do I like guys or girls. Could I at least have things stop for a bit so as to resolve my issues?

I felt strongly against men and even strongly against being an open book. I had locked myself away from intimacy for far too long that I did not know how to approach it anymore. However, my confusion and fears did not stop me from being curious and it sure did not stop years from flying by. I looked at myself some and ended up agreeing to trim my eyebrows. That was as far as I would go with regard to make up.

My curiosity had me keenly observing people who were in relationships. The girls in one acted as if they had accomplished the biggest thing ever. Talk of the highlight of their campus existence! They went on to blow people off so as to spend quality time with their mates. Going at it in between lectures and catching sleepovers as need be. The rendezvous seemed endless. On the flip side, though the relationships started out hot and heavy they fizzled out just as fast in some. This left names such as players and whores thrown around frivolously. On the other hand being left for a close friend was also the order of the day.

I also noticed that broads acted a certain way around their men; coquettish they acted. I thought that it was all-plastic but they said it was the relationship dance. Some admitted to being damsels in distress around their men because it gave their men a rush. The men felt like “Tarzan” albeit figuratively thumping their chest at being in charge. But why would they change their plans at the man’s whim? Could he just call ahead and make plans like a normal person? Oh, they say that men need to be managed to stay. You know, you need to take care of your man.

The men felt very intimidated around me. Apparently I called it as I saw it and that well had a damper on their game plan. They had one too many fish out of water moments because I was not the ideal girl but a tomboy. They also quickly learnt that I am strict. They flipped this strictness to imply that I was not into ‘mating’ rituals and as such I was hard to deal with. Well some referred to it as being boring on my part.

I just did not believe that being in a relationship and overlooking being disrespected was in order. Overlooking disrespect was labeled giving someone a second chance and when the person made the same mistake over and over then you were supposed to bend over backwards and take it. Not to forget that you were supposed to chase them and spell everything out for them. It felt like teaching from scratch. This was referred to as laying the proper foundation.

On the other hand fellow girls seemed to want me to take charge of their lives for them. Kind of like telling them what to do, lead them. Some plain and simple acted coquettish around me too. The girls further got disappointed when I didn’t lead them. They also got disappointed when I talked to guys. I was left wondering; what was with this contradiction? One minute I was pitiable because I wasn’t in a relationship and on the other hand they didn’t want me to be in one.

There I was, being blown out of the water with regard to relationships and also to what other girls were about. I mostly wondered if I was missing something with regard to how girls operated; giving out mixed signals, saying one thing and doing the other. I deliberated in my head about the meaning of their actions and ended up rationalizing that that was the way girl cliques operated. You see I had been one to do things as a one-man army and now I had found myself around a bunch of girls. Yeah, the girly ones at that. 

Plunge into the dark

I was a post teenager and yet I had not taken time to discover my sexuality. My head was buried deep down in the sand of oblivion. The thought of delving into it triggered fear that further threw me into denial and rationalization. “Who needs relationships anyway? Plutonic is the way to go.” I further thought that relationships were a luxury I could not afford since it would require a lot of work to figure it all out.

My attempts at feeling and looking at my body caused me a lot of anxiety. The thought of being in a relationship and being required to share my life sent me into a near panic attack. “You see, I did not know what was expected of me”. The aforementioned effects did not stop thoughts that resulted into my further trans fixation since I did not know what was expected of me as a partner. My being in a rut wasn’t helped by the people around me not being aware of how to go about dating either. It was clear that if I needed to learn about sexuality then I was on my own.

It was clear that I had to start somehow but thinking about it led me into further keeping it bottled up and hence contained. I continued to hang onto me not aware of how to open up. I thought putting it off a little bit longer would result into its working itself out without its tagging at my mind. To add insult to injury, I did not know what love was and as such would not even know if I fell in it. 

These setbacks in mind, there was no way I was venturing into an unknown territory. I sought for a dry run so as to know what to expect without really getting into it.The pictures scooting by with regard to sexuality and relationships left a sour test in my mouth. I did not like using the ropes I learnt growing up. Lashing out and being contradictory when shown attention wasn’t exactly working for me. It left me feeling bad that I had to put someone down in the name of affection and yet all they were trying to do was be nice to me.

My hesitancy was turned into motion.Talk of spinning wheels! “So, this girl is literally making passes at me. I can feel that she wants me. I am a bit transfixed since I do not know how to relate in such a situation. I am much better at brainstorming, figuring out the possible scenarios than letting it take its natural course”. There was however, mutual attraction. I was conflicted as I felt what I learnt growing up was not working and is out rightly wrong! The looming downside was that I did not have a new template at hand.

That notwithstanding my feelings literary pulled me into setting the ball rolling. I went over to say hi, staring out my window did not do me justice. I needed her to stop running around in my head. I thought I should just talk to her and see where it went. Talk of making a bold move. It however, did not go well. The conversation was not going well, "ground open up right this minute!" As such she left me in the living room alone. “Wow, where will I hide my face now? Nice work, Amondi.” It was a magnified fish out of water experience. “Oh well, I was better off coming up with my new template and keeping off from taking the plunge for awhile.” Her making passes at me did not stop and she resolved on using other people to talk to me on her behalf. I did not think that was conventional. I cooled off on my end. My new sexuality twist was that I had the hots for a girl!

Looking at me......Sexuality?

My mind and body are miles apart talk of life times apart! I had grown into a woman and guess what, I had missed it. My mind was stuck in survival, fighting to keep its sanity. It had repressed a lot to be able to function. It was fighting hard. The body had grown in a haphazard way. Puberty seemed to hit differently. Maybe the mind’s confusion had the body confused too.


“Oh my god, there is this peeling.” When I looked at myself, it was right there at the fold between the groin and thigh. It had been there for a few weeks now. “What more could possibly go wrong?” I had given it sometime to clear off (ignoring it). “Aren’t I walking on eggshells already?” The shells being in my head. One false move and they would all crack and the world would fall apart. It would all be real. I was abandoned. She did me wrong. Then there was this other part of me, which reasoned that I still needed finances. She was the only one I had. My father had not been in the picture as an active parent. I did not even know how to talk to him. I am not even sure that I wanted him in on my business anyway. My business being my normal up-keep and activities. I am not sure why, but I was terrified of him.


“What could this thing be? Other girls at school don’t know about such a body change”. And yeah they kind of talk about a lot of things from panties to boob tops to bras to periods to letters from boys to clubbing. Never had I heard them talk about this rash like thing. Later on I came to learn that it is called jock itch and it is mostly a physical change seen in teenage boys and it is cured by an over the counter ointment and their using boxers. I asked the one person I could ask and yet she was the one who had abandoned me. She said to leave it alone and apply Vaseline on it.


Its clearing marked the end of my looking at my personals. My periods not being regular ensured that I did not go down there. However, missing them wasn’t that bad because the girls talked about that and some claimed they missed theirs too. The only physical problem I had left was athletes foot. That I easily handled through powdering my feet, airing them as often as I could (being in a boarding school we were in shoes 16 hours straight) and drying in between them.


I also grew hair on my tummy the kind which is seen in teenage boys. The change grew on me and after sometime I thought they looked kind of cute and stopped looking at them as another anomaly. I figured I just needed to keep them from tangling by clipping them. However, it was yet another occurrence that was not in line with female bodily changes but more of a male bodily change.

I really could not handle any of these because things at home were bad. I had just been physically abused repeatedly. The one person I thought would always be in my corner, my mother, also abandoned me during the ordeal. She chose to abandon me in a time of great need. I just could not believe that she could let that happen on her watch and do nothing.


I further could not believe that she proceeded to alienate me just so that I could know that she was all-powerful. She was my lifeline and she used that fact as a bargaining chip. She used it to create an emotional leash that she tagged at whenever it suited her.


All these occurrences and thoughts ambushed and tortured me at school. I was almost at the peak of teenage; 16. Mine, well wasn’t sweet. Instead of being a teenager, I was busy worried about how I would make ends meet now that I was alone. I knew I had to detach and show her that well; I didn’t need her that much. I would be fine on my own as she intended. I would ace my tests and be a doctor. Medicine was a program that kept students away from their homes the longest.


Although I had resolved on emancipating myself there were these thoughts gnawing at me. “Why did she get very good at appearing to be in my corner and then let me hit the floor hard when push came to shove? How could she turn her back and look the other way?” If abandoning me wasn’t enough, she could not even acknowledge that she did something wrong. She had the audacity to claim that she did not know what I was talking about. She went with the line that she saw nothing and as such she did not know what I was talking about. She further went ahead in keeping me from leaving or visibly doing something about it by tagging at her emotional leash. She went on and on about how she would be disappointed for people to know that her boys were out of control. How she was in fact the victim!


Trying to process all that sent me over the edge. I became split into three. A part of me that knew the truth, a part of me that was terrified and emotional. Lastly, the third part that still believed there was good out there. The third part was the one without which I would not be able to get out of the house or ever associate with other people.


I also learnt to dissociate to protect the part of me, which is terrified and emotional. I believed to move on, I had to forget. But did I really? I might have just misconstrued repression to be forgetfulness. All this confusion lingered in my subconscious, and manifested occasionally as anxiety or depression.


Although I was already split and I could dissociate, I also became an avoidant and I was still in denial. My mother could not have possibly done that to me. But I still avoided her whenever I could. I just could not let her hurt me again. I barely made it the last time round. My emancipation although informal, was due to my not knowing if I could survive a betrayal of that magnitude again. Facing the reality that the world was unsafe, people were mostly self-centered was also hard for me to swallow. The cherry on top being that I was not able to depend on anyone because I knew and I was also in total denial that trust was just used as a bargaining chip. Trust became a luxury I could not afford.


As all this went on, I became so parentified while in the same breath held onto the child in me. I however, missed being a teenager. My teenage years whizzed by me. It was a blurr! And with it my chances of experiencing sexuality like other people my age. I also hardly looked at myself.

Intimacy......Scoot?!

Venturing into the real world, you are square into the dating realm. Though clueless about relationships in general you have a clear picture of what to expect in yours. On the flip side people around you seem to be all too eager to get you into one in a rush! “Whatever happened to people finding themselves at their own pace and time”? Their zeal throws you off guard and all of a sudden the blazing gun is pointing at you.


The situation makes you quite uncomfortable; squeamish even. They roll their dice and you feel put on the spot. “I really like you, would you be my girlfriend?” The quick retort would be no. Laced with a hint of taking offense by such a preposterous question. Why would this person dare cramp my style? “How dare they?” “You are special to me and I would like to treat you special.” "Special?" Mounting discomfort on your part, "let us just be friends in fact let us make it a group thing, a group hangout". In the event that you are shown different treatment then a serious clam would meet it up. So serious that at the very moment the niceties would end on your part. Just as to ensure that you are not mincing your words your attention would shift to a person who happens to be in the just friends wavelength.


In the event the statement “I love you” is directed at you then it would be quickly followed by a leave me alone retort. The mind would then race to a place where it would wonder why that particular person would not love someone else? "I am really not up for grabs. I only want to be friends; in fact the person was out of line asking me that. Where and how were these people raised? Asking to love others". 

During that period, I only wanted to be invisible. I wanted to sort out my emotional clutter in peace. I knew what I wanted but I had no idea how to get. I needed a minute to figure it all out. I also had baggage weighing down heavily on me and at the time all I knew to do was to repress it. I did not want to be rushed into feeling things that I was not ready to feel. I did not even want to explore my body! As such I was not at a place where I could share my life with someone else. All I knew at that particular point was that I was running from something. I was also at my cynical peak looking down on love and relationships. I was very eager to trade those with a career.


I distasted emotional people. Deep down I thought they were threatening to blow my cover and I was a little jealous of them because they were willing to go there, yes; the feeling place. They were willing to stop and feel. They sure were not laughing their feelings away or minimizing them. My reaction to what I felt led me to think emotional people should not wear their emotions on their sleeves but should look for appropriate places and time to show them. Behind closed doors would be a good start for such people. Better yet those people could learn to bottle their feelings! That was also the time I developed my “tough” talk about how stupid feelings were and as such my peers saw me as a stoic person.


I went through great lengths to ensure that I nipped every form of attraction in the bud. I did not want people to look at me ‘funny’ telling me little nothings. I was well aware that people have an annoying habit of asking me to open up, to feel my feelings, and to show I care. The very same people will ask around inquiring where they stand with me. This was draining on my part since I had confined the relationship “mambo jambo” into the smallest part of my life; that was duly expendable. I therefore was striving to ensure that they would not have the grounds of asking me for a commitment or even thinking to have their life entwined with mine.


Being in a relationship would force me to feel things that I had managed to ignore for the longest time and I had also made myself believe that they did not matter. I thought I was better off thinking about a career and being independent. I also thought that being unattached meant freedom. I would not be at anyone’s beck and call. My misconception was further reinforced by the tales I heard from my acquaintances about having to play hide and seek with their significant others.


Hide and seek meaning not telling their respective partners the truth about where they were or what they were doing. Basically to the people I was around dating meant fronting; playing on what your heart’s desire wants and expects and hiding who you really are. Ultimately those relationships were usually made up of white lies and downright dishonesty. They also seemed not to really matter to the persons involved. Some even became means to ends. They lasted a season and were them put off till the next period of need. Ideally, an on off pattern.


To have, to hold, to cherish sure wasn’t the theme of such unions. As such what I observed relationships to be did not peek my interest enough to have me think of experimenting being in one. To me I thought it would be easier for them to break up than to keep up a front for their supposed relationship partners. Not to mention the ability of someone to keep up a front was more applauded than being in honest, mutually beneficial relationships, which was seen as being whipped, and boring. (I secretly craved for those particular relationships). I was of the opinion that if you were going to strain yourself so much why not just end it.


My experiences growing up left me with a lot of baggage and fears. My observations served to nail the coffin shut. I put off intimacy because what I saw did not feel right. I had a template that I was looking to have fulfilled. The pickings were sure slim and the cynicism was at an all time high. I held back. The thought of intimacy had me scooting in the opposite direction.

Dull me, Shield me...Binge?

You really would like to escape from this situation and no you don't want to seem soft. Giving people your real person; soft and cuddly is out of the question. You have it in you out of nurture that the 'strong' get their way. Strong being code for aggressive and borderline barbaric. You do not comprehend why you are so sensitive, so different than your family members. At times thoughts cross your mind that you must have been adopted and you really are not blood related."How could you be? Do they know you are different, emotional and all?" You wonder. You are terrified stiff for them to know you, well aware that there is zero tolerance for the emotional and sensitive people.

You are living with her but you cannot stand her. Maybe it is a good thing that she leaves most nights to be with her boyfriend. But on the flip side, when she does not feel like it she pins it on you. She tells him that she cannot because she has to stay with her sister. "You think, more of torture her (referring to yourself in third person so as to distance yourself from the emotional pain)." Well, if someone asks me that statement is preposterous because you rarely talk to each other. You find her toxic.

Well, you feel strongly against her but your negative feelings do not shield you from feeling the limelight. It is glaring and yes it is pointed right at you. Oh...the weight? It is square on your shoulders. It feels like guilt entwined with sadness and anger. How she put you in their cross fire beats you. You have nothing to do with what they have and yet here she is dragging you into it. "Am I a burden" thought creeps into your head. You are left wondering why you have all these bad feelings and yet you steer out of everyone's way. It is amazing how your guilt gets you into having supper with them at her boyfriend's place. You really don't want to but you feel emotionally trapped.

"I need to get out of this place." That is the constant thought on your mind. Well, you once thought she was the 'safe' sibling.The better evil. The others were violent and imposing. They demanded a lot of your time. It felt that they wanted you to spend your whole life taking care of them. The nurturing in your home was chauvinistic. You, however did not anticipate to feel this miserable. The emotional torture was unbearable. You need to flee fast.

You turn to food. Bingeing. You just need to escape. Food quickly becomes a comforter. You think if you stuff your face with a lot of carbohydrates then you will duly feel drowsy and sleep. Sleep it off. Escape the feelings brewing in you. French fries and cookies are your poison of choice. She hurts your feelings and then she takes off to her boyfriend's. There you are stuck, hurt feelings mixed with negative feelings. They just keep replaying in your head. How you would give an arm and leg to have them stop. To stop feeling the way you are. If not stop, could your feelings just give you a break. You promise you will pick them up later.

The cycle is continuous. In the bid to escape you stop talking to her and stop being interested in hearing how her days went. How does she expect you to be cordial with her. "How dare she?" Yet she is the one who hurts your feelings every time she gets a chance. She is toying with your self worth and instilling feelings of self blame in the same breath. She notices that you have stopped talking then it must be because you do not like her. She sends her emissaries to find out why you don't talk to her and also don't mention her to people. "I am only able to deal with such a person for a given period of time and confine her to the smallest place in your life". You are terrified that her toxins might spread and damage the rest of you. You however, do not give people the reason because you just don't want to talk about or think about it. To you avoiding it is the only way you know how to deal with it. You are scared that talking about it will make it more real.

On the other hand you cannot believe that she is making herself the victim!"Really? Can she even think beyond herself? When she opens her mouth, doesn't she hear herself? "You cannot do anything right, you are conceited, you are too picky, you are too into appearances, you are too weak, you are stolen from every other time, you are too friendly. What is wrong with you?!" Her small talk with her boyfriend was how you were physically abused in the hands of your brother. Can't she see that the things that come out of her mouth are hurtful?" You think that you are not about to justify yourself and your actions. You think she also wants to instill self doubt in you. She must think that if you see that everyone is on her side then you must be bonkers to feel hurt by the way she treats you.

The kicker was that after beating you up emotionally she expected you to like her, to listen to her. She expected nothing less. In her world her verbal abuse was supposed to be cool. You were supposed to roll with the punches. "Ludicrous", you thought.

This is just but a form of emotional abuse that pushes a person to the brink. Pushes someone so far as to hide behind food. To binge.