Inferior Functions - Tumblr Posts
While you're doing lower functions, anything for lower Si? I'm ENTP, if it helps. I'm ENTP if it doesn't, too!
Hello, ENTP. Have a Doctor Who gif.
Pay more attention to your body. Try yoga, dancing, exercise (hoop dancing is a great low-impact way to learn to be graceful and coordinated – it worked for me and it’s great at toning your body) or keeping a notebook where you jot down what you ate or did and how you felt afterward. (If you can learn what causes those discomforting twinges, you’ll stop thinking you’re dying whenever you get a stomach ache from drinking chocolate milk and eating twinkies at the same time. You’re not dying of cancer!)
Take time at the end of each day to think back through your memories, experiences, conversations, and feelings in order to categorize them and process them fully, so you can remember stuff later and/or deal with things as they happen, which will reduce later periods of guilt, anxiety after the fact, or feelings you might not have dealt with. Nobody wants that crap inferior Si dragging up old stuff out of the blue, right?
Devote some time to music. Si is good at recognizing that which it knows or has experienced. If you pay attention to music, you’ll start noticing patterns and being able to recognize who composed what over time (I’ve been doing this since I was a kid – I can now pick up, say, Han Zimmer or John Williams’ musical scores within a few bars of the opening theme because I recognize the tone, tenor, and instruments they often use; I do it with voices too – I can usually know who the actor speaking is before seeing their face / reading their name, even in animated films where they’re altering their voice – it’s a lot of fun!).
Try cooking. I know it requires paying attention and your taste buds might suck just like mine (seriously, unless it’s hot / sweet / spicy, I literally cannot taste it) – but it’s a skill that you can develop over time and Si is quite good at picking out individual tastes and/or recognizing flavors once you know what they are.
Do art of some kind. Any kind. Scrapbook (you don’t have to use family photos, you know; I like to do albums for family and friends of everything I admire or love about them, and use pictures from the internet). Draw. Paint. Craft. Make cards. Become an expert at gift-wrapping with coordinated ribbons and paper or learn to spray paint art. Anything that forces you to be hands-on creative instead of intellectually creative. Try woodworking, or calligraphy, or building things, or painting murals, or coloring books with ten thousand details. You do have natural abilities to pair colors, make something look attractive, etc., if you can just train yourself to notice and/or care. (Just like I recommended for the lower Se’s – get yourself to the library and check out books on cooking, crafting, fashion, interior design, building things, etc.) The more you know about many different things, the more resources you’ll have mentally stored up to use in life.
Do something about your environment. You don’t have to live in a sparse space unless you want to. Your Si-dom cousins are terrific at stuff like surrounding themselves with the fabrics, colors, scents, music, etc., that they like. You can do it too, but you need to spend time finding out what you love and discovering all the different detailed things that exist to help you! (You can’t do awesome things unless you know about the tools that are out there to create with.) Try lots of new things. Feel fabrics. Smell candles (just not too many at once, or you’ll get a headache from over-sensory-smell stimulation like I d… never-mind). Notice how the colors in a room impact you – do you feel peaceful and calm with this color, or nervous and agitated? What do you WANT to feel in this space? (If this color gives you energy, put it wherever you want to be creative; if it makes you feel peaceful, the bedroom or reading spot might be perfect.)
Slow down. I know it’s a pain in the butt, it makes you feel like the world is moving in slow motion, but the best things take time to learn. Try lots of things, but the ones you really like, slow down and try to do them well. Si’s often learn to be really good at something by practice and watching other people to learn techniques. Don’t only watch YouTube instructional videos if you get stuck. Try them first. Try and take pleasure in the process of learning.
Get in touch with your past. If you do this, you won’t have angst later, and you’ll be less weirdly sentimental over strange things Feel free to think about the past – voluntarily rather than under stress or a period of self-loathing. Try making photo albums, keeping records, writing stories about what happened to you and when, painting pictures to represent periods in your life, whatever strikes your fancy – anything that connects you to memories and helps you ground yourself.
Train yourself to try new things. You do this all the time with Ne, in conceptual realms – now try doing it physically. Don’t always order the same thing at that restaurant. Try something new. Paint that piece of furniture. Go a different way to class. You hate ruts. Don’t get stuck in a sensory rut.
Writers: take a scene from a movie and recreate it in writing, but without any dialogue as a writing exercise. This forces you to describe the actions of the characters, what is going on in the background, how the light looks, what’s happening in the environment. You know, those details intuitive writers miss! If you can train yourself to do this, you’ll notice more in your real-life environment too. :)
- ENFP Mod
PS: Sorry, I know a lot of these examples are kinda feminine… I’m tired.
Inferior Function Fascination
An interesting thing about the inferior function is that it can be a surprisingly noticeable part of a person’s personality. I think people have a tendency to be fascinated by it. I’d like to write about how each inferior function can show up in a positive way below.
ENXPs (inferior Si): Those with inferior Si can have a strong appreciation for things that remind them of positive experiences they’ve had in the past. They can also have an appreciation for aesthetics and have sensory interests such as decorating, dance, etc.
IXFPs (inferior Te): Inferior Te can cause IXFPs to strongly admire efficiency and logic. It may also cause them to be be good at leading groups of people.
EXTJs (inferior Fi): Inferior Fi can cause EXTJs to be interested in finding their identity and staying true to their values. They may find that they enjoy emotional stories and making romantic gestures.
IXTPs (inferior Fe): People with inferior Fe may dislike social disharmony and take steps to avoid it. They may be surprisingly interested in emotional stories as well.
INXJs (inferior Se): Inferior Se can lead to a love of beauty and sensory experience. It may cause INXJs to have aesthetic or physical hobbies such as painting, dance, etc.
ESXPs (inferior Ni): Those with inferior Ni may show interest in discussing abstract topics and trust their intuition more than expected. They may be interested in psychology or mystery novels.
EXFJs (inferior Ti): Inferior Ti can cause EXFJs to enjoy solving puzzles and challenging themselves. They may also find themselves interested in how things work.
ISXJs (Inferior Ne): Inferior Ne may cause ISXJs to enjoy writing, travel, or anything that allows them to be creative and explore. They may also be surprisingly spontaneous at times.