Confusion, Counselors, Cats, and Comfort: An anecdote on MBTI types and emotion.

Continuing in my mini-series on personality types, here's another little snapshot of personalities playing out in my family. Enjoy!

I was sitting at the table talking to my mom about my emotional state.

My mom, an INFJ--this type is also known as The Counselor-- was listening, offering advice, and probing my heart.

As an ISFJ, "often unable to either hide or articulate any distress they may be feeling" (Joe Butt, TypeLogic), I sighed, "I don't even know what I feel." Numbness throbbed in my chest, partially obscuring my sadness and anger which was also strangely mixed with a dash of hope and excitement.

Now, both my dad and I love cats, and it's a bond that we have. On seeing I was sad, he reappeared with one of our cats which he wordlessly handed to me. It was like he was saying, "I can't fix your emotional problem, but have a cat. Cats are comforting."

I couldn't help chuckling as I hugged our gray cat. I had found the INTP solution to emotional distress: Apply cat directly to problem.

This thought caused further mirth as I pictured sticking my cat onto certain people's faces.

From my experience, INTPs are not comfortable with emotions in others, they don't know how to delve into them and explore them out. I think emotions distress them, they want to fix them and turn off negative emotions in others if they're not too overwhelming. The volatile and violent expression of emotions, like screaming in rage, will turn the INTP off, he'll just leave the room. Since mine were quietly expressed in this instance he was willing to try and comfort me.

~I read this to my dad before posting and he laughed.~

My "Celtic" Cat

In the tale of  "Oisin in Tir Na nOg," the hero Oisin (euh-sheen) travels across a sea on a white steed with the fairy woman Niamh (Neev) to Tir Na nOg (the Land of Eternal Youth, that is).  As they gallop over the waves, they see many things go racing past them. One of them was a white hound with red ears chasing a fawn.  Another Irish tale mentions a white cow with red horns. So I asked myself, what is the significance of a white animal with red ears? Well, I don't know that yet. But when I first read the story I took a very literal view and pictured a white dog with ears as red as Clifford, the Big Red Dog instead of the chestnut shade found in animal fur.  Is that picture possible? Well, not quite as impossible as I once thought.

I have a large long-haired white cat, named Elrond. The fur on his ears is white too, but thinner so his ears usually look kinda pink. However they can, on occasion, look quite red, as in this picture.  So I fancy that I have a "Celtic" cat with a white body and red ears.  
Here is another picture of him, this time looking his best:

~ Elrond~

If I ever post about Pangur Ban, you'll probably get to see some more picture of him.