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Everywhere I look, infp is this stereotypical hippie who is so caught up in their dreams and aspirations they can't see reality anymore

The helpless romantic

The sad poet

The pacifist

The crybaby

Like I get some of us might be like that, but I think this level of optimism and dreamy attitude is for the privileged infps

The rest of us need to mask really hard to survive out there

This world is not for infps

Yet you still continue to live and thrive

It really takes a lot of energy to burry your real self and your real dreams, to be able to just compete and live in this chaotic world

I've seen some seriously jaded infps in my life, who are burned out, tired and done with everything because they went against their own nature just to survive this hellhole. As sad as it might be, It takes tremendous amount of courage to do this. To live according to unwritten rules, and continue to live like this in silence. Other people might think this is not a big deal, but they have no idea how excruciating it is to not be yourself, to feel alienated, to feel isolated in a crowd of people, even when you try to please them as best as you can.

These people are left out entirely when it comes to infp representation. I barely see anything said about them or their struggles. Maybe because they suffer in silence. Maybe because in the eyes of others they are not infps because they don't embody the lazy, foolish dreamer archetype.

People like us have to put extra effort to do everything that comes easily to other personality types. We work harder to just survive. We pay a heavy tax for our masking, fight our cognitive wiring, and lose ourselves in the process, yet continue to live. Nobody talks about these hidden infp qualities but hey, at least we make funny memes, right?

To my fellow jaded infps, who are putting extra effort, who are doubting whether you are an infp or not, who are taking the kind of pressure that makes other personalities crumble, just want to tell you, you are doing an amazing job.

You are stronger than you think.

You are not a crybaby, a weakling, or an impractical person. People with these qualities cannot stand the cruelty of this world, and I know you've been tolerating more than you should.

You’re living life on hard mode, so don’t compare yourself to people who are living it on easy mode. It's easy for them to say you are a gullible fool, when in reality, they can't see how much resiliency and courage it takes to just...be, let alone competing and racing and moving forward. It's easy to judge someone's speed when you can't see their chains.

Real strength is Invisible, my friend.

But that doesn't mean it's not there.

Hang in there, friend.

buy a pack of chapsticks and put one in the pocket of all of your coats and jackets because you always forget to bring one and chapped lips is sensory hell

leave important things where you can see them. if they go in a box or a drawer you will forget they exist

put any appointments or deadlines in your phone calendar As Soon As you get them. set a reminder for a week before, a day before, an hour before, as many as you need as often as you need them.

when that little voice in your head says “i dont need to write that down, ill remember it” that is the devil talking!!! write it down anyway!!

plan for down time. have a few hours at the end of every day to just do fun stuff like engage in your hyperfixations. even if you didnt get all of your work done that day, have the rest anyway. you probably spent the whole day beating yourself up for not doing what you Should be doing, so you still need the break.

if you never eat vegetables because its too much effort to chop and cook them, get the frozen or canned shit. it doesnt go off for ages and you just have to microwave it. theres no point buying fresh vegetables if they just keep going off and being left to rot in the bottom of your fridge

if you struggle to decide what to have for dinner every day, take the decision out of it. choose a set of meals and eat those on rotation until you get sick of them, then choose some new ones and do it again.

Scientists have long hypothesized that the high electrical charge of thunderstorms could produce an opposite charge in the ground that would discharge from the forest canopy. But this phenomenon, known as a corona, had never been observed on actual trees.  (Image credit: W. Brune; research credit: P. McFarland et al.; via SciAm)