ENFP

I can’t remember where I took this test, but I thought enough to save the results in a .doc file, so I thought I’d share it here:

ENFP – THE INSPIRER

Extraverted – Intuitive – Feeling – Perceiving

FAMOUS ENFPs:

Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Salman Rushdie, Julian Assange, Walt Disney, Anne Frank, Fidel Castro, Keira Knightley, Jack White, Ellen DeGeneres, Orson Welles, Robin Williams, Gwen Stefani, Sandra Bullock, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Daniel Radcliffe, Sharon Stone

PERCENTAGE OF ENFPs AMONG POPULATION: 8.1%

ENFP – DESCRIPTION

ENFPs are warm, enthusiastic people, typically very bright and full of potential. They live in the world of possibilities, and can become very passionate and excited about things. Their enthusiasm lends them the ability to inspire and motivate others, more so than we see in other types. They can talk their way in or out of anything. They love life, seeing it as a special gift, and strive to make the most out of it.

ENFPs have an unusually broad range of skills and talents. They are good at most things that interest them. Project-oriented, they may go through several different careers during their lifetime. To onlookers, the ENFP may seem directionless and without purpose, but ENFPs are actually quite consistent. They have a strong sense of values which they live with throughout their life. Everything that they do must be in line with their values. They see meaning in everything, and are on a continuous quest to adapt their life and values to achieve inner peace. They’re constantly aware and somewhat fearful of losing touch with themselves. Since emotional excitement is usually an important part of the ENFP’s life, and because they are focused on keeping “centered”, the ENFP is usually an intense individual, with highly evolved values.

An ENFP needs to focus on following through with their projects. This can be a problem area for some of these individuals. Unlike other Extroverted types, ENFPs need time alone to center themselves, and make sure they are moving in a direction which is in sync with their values. ENFPs who remain centered will usually be quite successful at their endeavors. Others may fall into the habit of dropping a project when they become excited about a new possibility, and thus they never achieve the great accomplishments which they are capable of achieving.

Most ENFPs have great people skills. They are genuinely warm and interested in people, and place great importance on their inter-personal relationships. ENFPs almost always have a strong need to be liked. Sometimes, especially at a younger age, an ENFP will tend to be “gushy” and insincere, and generally “overdo” in an effort to win acceptance. However, once an ENFP has learned to balance their need to be true to themselves with their need for acceptance, they excel at bringing out the best in others, and are typically well-liked. They have an exceptional ability to intuitively understand a person after a very short period of time, and use their intuition and flexibility to relate to others on their own level.

Because ENFPs live in the world of exciting possibilities, the details of everyday life are seen as trivial drudgery. They place no importance on detailed, maintenance-type tasks, and will frequently remain oblivious to these types of concerns. When they do have to perform these tasks, they do not enjoy themselves. This is a challenging area of life for most ENFPs, and can be frustrating for ENFP’s family members.

ENFPs sometimes make serious errors in judgment. They have an amazing ability to intuitively perceive the truth about a person or situation, but when they apply judgment to their perception, they may jump to the wrong conclusions.

ENFPs who have not learned to follow through may have a difficult time remaining happy in marital relationships. Always seeing the possibilities of what could be, they may become bored with what actually is. The strong sense of values, however, will keep many ENFPs dedicated to their relationships. However, ENFPs like a little excitement in their lives, and are best matched with individuals who are comfortable with change and new experiences.

Having an ENFP parent can be a fun-filled experience, but may be stressful at times for children with strong Sensing or Judging tendencies. Such children may see the ENFP parent as inconsistent and difficult to understand, as the children are pulled along in the whirlwind life of the ENFP. Sometimes the ENFP will want to be their child’s best friend, and at other times they will play the parental authoritarian. But ENFPs are always consistent in their value systems, which they will impress on their children above all else, along with a basic joy of living.

ENFPs are basically happy people. They may become unhappy when they are confined to strict schedules or mundane tasks. Consequently, ENFPs work best in situations where they have a lot of flexibility, and where they can work with people and ideas. Many go into business for themselves. They have the ability to be quite productive with little supervision, as long as they are excited about what they’re doing.

They have a strong need to be independent, and resist being controlled or labelled. They need to maintain control over themselves, but they do not believe in controlling others. Their dislike of dependence and suppression extends to others as well as to themselves.

ENFPs are charming, ingenuous, risk-taking, sensitive, people-oriented individuals with capabilities ranging across a broad spectrum. They have many gifts which they will use to fulfill themselves and those near them, if they are able to remain centered and master the ability of following through.

Autumnal Equinox

Today (22 September 2016) is the Autumnal Equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere (Happy Spring to those of you on the other side of the equator!).  Here in Salem, some neo-pagans are celebrating Mabon, nearby rural farmers are celebrating the Second Harvest, city dwellers are celebrating Pumpkin Spice Everything, and those of us who love the briskness of the Fall are eagerly anticipating sweater and cider weather!!

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Late harvest in the Apple orchard.  Mmmm…cider donuts and apple pie!

I remember when I was in college (quite awhile ago), walking quickly through campus one day.  I happened to look up at the side of the building before heading in through the stage door and stopped, in shock.  The building was always covered in ivy, but at that moment it was a bright and vibrant red.  I looked around, and sure enough, the trees were all shades of orange and yellow and tawny ocher.  I had been so busy and so preoccupied with classes and rehearsals that I had completely missed the changing of the seasons.  I made it a point to pay more attention, especially when the following Spring arrived and the flowers and trees came into bloom.  After all, we are always hearing the advice to “Stop and smell the roses.”  Well, stop and enjoy the other changes, too!

Somewhere between that moment and the period we know as adulthood, with all of its similar trappings of hurrying through life without looking up, I had forgotten that lesson. It popped-up again a few years ago, but in a more profound and succinct way for me.  I had taken my car off the road for a year and decided to commute to work on the train.  Our condo is steps from the Salem station, and my office was a 1/2 mile walk from the Gloucester station (Cape Ann is a beautiful place to visit).  For the first 10 months I rode the train like everyone else: head down, staring at my phone.  One morning, I happened to look up and catch a view out the window that could almost have been staged; it was so perfect, and it took my breath away.  I had to write it down immediately.*  It was an epiphany, of sorts, and a reminder.  I’ve never taken it for granted again.

October 26, 2012 8:47am:

There is beauty in this world.

I can commute along the same route
Day after day reading or playing on my phone
But once in awhile (less often than I’d like, but more than I feel comfortable with) 
Nature tugs on my sleeve and exclaims:

“Look what I have done for you!

You are on your way to sit at a desk indoors, glued to a screen and wired into the counterfeit world, and you are spending your time giving all of your attention o a smaller window (bane of society) into that false world.

I am putting on my best colors for you!

Look now and you will see a buck and doe fleeing into the umber forest.

Even though we are separated by a sheet of glass and you are traveling by me at a fast speed in a version of a machine that has choked and destroyed me for ____ years, look out and appreciate me.

See how I have made the waters calm and smooth to mirror the beauty of my autumn colors and to expand the sky beneath you.

See how each neighboring tree can burst in vibrant or subdued hues next to one another and be beautiful.

Not everyone can be a flaming red Maple, but see how I have given beauty to even the dullest of brown trees?”

This speech from Nature probably would have continued, but I was pulling-in to my station and needed to get to work.  Perhaps I will stop to listen again and She will tell me the rest of the story.  Perhaps you can finish it and tell me what you’ve heard.

Anyway, I just thought I’d share it here to remind myself to stop and take a moment to notice the world around me, and maybe to inspire you to do the same.

So go.  Take a moment to enjoy the change of seasons.

Take a moment away from the computer/phone/tablet (after you read this, of course).

Take a breath.

Live life.

Repeat.

Enjoy.

(In looking for photos to show the view, I stumbled on this site with gorgeous professional shots of Cape Ann and some foliage by Elinor Teele.  I don’t know her, but the photos are stunning.)

*Full disclosure: I then went right back to looking at my phone, as it was the only place I could write this down as it was happening.  Since then, I have tried to keep a small pocket-sized journal and pen with me, but that is not always practical.  My phone is full of notes and reminders, and (for better or worse) it’s always with me.