simple

**credit to my research advisor, she’s an amazing mentor and I aspire to be just like her someday :)

Read the abstract. Write down what the paper says it is going to be about.

Read the introduction. Write down what the paper says it is looking to accomplish and how.

Read the conclusion. Write down what the paper actually did accomplish.

Go through and find all the pictures, graphs, or diagrams. Write notes explaining these images to yourself.

Read the whole paper start to finish. Write a summary of the paper as though you are explaining it to a layperson, and then another summary as though you are explaining it to a colleague.

Throughout all of the above steps:

If there are words you don’t know google them and write down the definitions

If the paper defines a formula, law, variable, etc in a certain way write that down

chamomile: soft bed sheets and white pillowcases, pointe shoes, peach flavoured lipbalm, stays up way too late to finish books, listens to tchaikovsky, goes through life in a daze but wishes they could be fully present

green tea: autumn trees, being outdoors, misty forests and moonlight, stars peaking through window frames, kind of just wants to be left alone, kind of wants to be a faerie or a forest nymph

english breakfast: ocean waves, sunshine, kindness overflowing in their hearts, wants the world to be nice to them for once, wishes people would stop mistaking their optimism for naiveté

darjeeling: neon lights and short skirts, probably one too many vodka shots, has the same crush for seven years but never acts on it, tries very hard to be okay, always tired, probably listens to music 24/7

jasmine: colour-coded schedules, procrastination (but good grades, somehow), taking too much on at once, easily burnt out, insomnia, wishes they could take all the subjects and learn everything at once, wants to own a library

oolong: travel journals and inkstains, lacy curtains, wanderlust and a wish for adventure, an overactive imagination, getting in trouble for daydreaming in class, constantly trying to soothe their aching soul

Something soft for the spring time 🌸

cold mornings and soft sunrises

Yes, it is. Intuitives all struggle somewhat with being ‘in’ the sensory world, because it’s far more draining than the king of visionary / abstract thinking that most excites them, and it plays off a lower, weak S function that isn’t great at interacting with the world. Ni-doms in particular are very much ‘in their head’ and heavily processing things, reshaping them and shifting them around in their head to fit an ideal outcome or prediction. Se is ‘fully aware of’ and able to merge with the external environment. In an ISP, for example, this might mean becoming 100% absorbed in whatever they are doing – getting lost in it. So Se always comes with that kind of full-body ‘immersion’ – for an INJ, inferior Se makes them tune in heavily to the outer world (or ignore it completely) but because they are not in it all the time / able to control it, it’s like floating in a sensory world that has been kicked up 20 notches. It’s TOO MUCH. TOO LOUD. TOO BUSY. TOO CRAZY. Because… they are taking it all in with no filter and no capacity to engage with it fully, rather like how an ISJ might feel uttelry overwhelmed being bombarded with abstract information of all kinds that they feel they must process and stick into individual knowledge boxes (high Si).

Quarantine as an opportunity for healing

This universe is, essentially, a long chain (or a huge net) of events and connections. As J types, INFJs want to be able to predict and control as many of these events and connections as possible. We choose our ideal final goal and little by little, day by day, we plan the route. The vision rarely (if ever) changes, but we tend to be flexible with our plans, which makes us very adaptable individuals.

In most cases, we have to correct our trajectory because we’ve learned something new. We’re curious beings, we thrive on new ideas and perspectives, so whenever we learn something new, interesting, and good we tend to integrate it in our life. Other times, though, something totally unpredictable happens, and we’re forced to change our plans regardless of our thoughts and desires.

This coronavirus pandemic is one of those unpredictable events. Or rather, it was predicted: scientists have been warning us for years, since the 2002 SARS epidemic, that coronaviruses are dangerous, that they tend to “spill over” quite frequently, and that our healthcare systems are unprepared for a global pandemic. In short, we knew this was going to happen (and it’s going to happen again), we just didn’t know when.

Before we start talking about what to do during quarantine, and why I think this is a time for healing, let me say this: it’s ok to be scared. It’s ok to be scared for the people you love. Just try not to be anxious, because anxiety causes more damage than anything else. It’s not good for you, and it’s not good for the people you live with.

Having said that, this pandemic is one of those rare terrible events that will have a huge and lasting impact on the whole world. We can’t expect things to be like they were before, when the emergency will pass, and this can cause a further boost of anxiety in some people. INFJs are lucky in this matter, I think: we are anxious individuals, but we don’t have that kind of anxiety.

We’re optimistic, we have confidence in the future, we see every change and unexpected event as an opportunity to learn something new and reorganize our (inner) lives. Other people are not like that: some of our friends, family members, etc. adapt slowly to change and such a sudden disturbance in their habits and plans can be deeply unsettling.

As I’ve probably written in other posts, time is the most precious thing we have, as human beings, and that’s especially true for INFJs: we’re pretty jealous of our time, and we only dedicate it to the people who truly deserve it. Now, with this pandemic, we’ve been stripped of many things (our jobs, our routines, our plans, our social life, etc.) but in return we’ve been gifted with a lot of time.

Now, the obvious question is: what can we do with all this time? On the internet (and your national TV as well, I’m guessing) there’s people offering suggestions everywhere: clean your house, repaint the walls, bake your own bread, learn a new skill, spend more time with your family, read books, exercise … Which are all very useful/pleasurable things, but … What can you do that is actually good for yourself?

This answer to that question, I think, is quite simple: heal yourself. I’ve developed the habit of analysing and questioning my life, every few years or months. I ask myself: who am I right now? Is this who I really want to be? Do I still want to work on my projects? Or am I just continuing like this out of habit, like an automaton?

I think it’s fundamental to ask yourself these questions once in while, and be honest with the answers. That’s how you can be sure that your life is (still) meaningful and that your habits are not keeping you hostage. And what better time than this to ask yourself these questions? Your life is going to change no matter what, it’s inevitable. The sooner you start questioning your ideas, your projects, your beliefs, your life-style, and so on, the least you’ll be caught unprepared.

This is a time to meditate upon priorities and privileges, to cultivate the things that are truly valuable and important to you, and renounce to anything that’s superfluous, hedonistic, or time-consuming. This is a time to acknowledge what’s truly essential, to learn to live peacefully in the present moment, to appreciate life and its mystery without judgment.

This is a time to heal your wounds, and the wounds of those who share their life with you, if they are willing. There are many ways to do that: meditate, practice some self-care (we INFJs tend to neglect our bodies), write your thoughts on your journal, observe your family without judgment (if you have one), find a way to be helpful to others (a simple blog post, for instance, can do a lot of good for some) …

I know that some of you may be in a dire situation: maybe you’ve lost your job and have no income, maybe there are abusive people in you family, maybe you’re stuck alone somewhere, maybe someone you know has contracted the disease, maybe you fear you might have it … In all of these cases, there are people, organisations, structures out there that can help you, guide you, support you, listen to you.

INFJ: I’m just a bit depressed by not knowing where I’m going, where the work I make belong, how I’ll get a job, the idiocy of some human beings, not being able to do much to change the climate change situation and that I’m involuntarily making waste everyday, where will I be in thirty years, the imminent apocalypse/ world destruction and the fact that everything is transient and what I do now is predominantly for my personal attainment of pleasure, and will not matter in the distant future when the sun explodes

INFP: don’t worryyy, you’re just overthinking, everything will turn out fine *hug*