Monday, January 14, 2008

The nature of forced sociability


INFJ. According to the Myers Briggs personality test (loosely based on Jung) I fit into the following four boxes, if its a black-or-white sort of classification: intuitive, introverted, feeling, and judging...I.N.F.J. As far as grid-like breakdowns of human nature are concerned, I feel this is satisfactorily accurate in describing "me". I work from the gut, I function from the heart, I trust too much, love too hard, think that people are more often "good" than not, hold grudges when someone lets me down, believe that everyone CAN find fulfillment in work, and live with the expectation that if I just wait long enough I will find mine. I think a lot and talk only when prompted or when I feel I have reached my own conclusion or state of comfortability with my standpoint. When I was a child I was SO shy I refused to answer questions like " what is your name?" or " how old are you?" and wouldn't commit to any academic answer I wasn't one hundred percent certain of.
Funny then, that I should choose teaching as my profession. The teacher is always on display, always performing, needing to be on key and quick-witted, able to improvise and exhibit unconditional patience and genuine interest. I often think about how I morphed my INFJ personality into that of an enthusiastic teacher. I know first-hand that it takes a great deal of energy that must be brought to the table every day, and requires a certain degree of commitment to this end.
I never verbalized this concept, but it all became clear quite recently by the words of my uncle, a fellow educator, and is essentially this (and I paraphrase) :the nature of the career (of teaching) is one of forced social interaction on a daily basis. At the end of a long day of teaching, the last thing the educator wants to do is talk or socialize.
Ironically I'm only now realizing that the task of coffee wench-ing for the socialites is quite a parallel task. All day long I am forced to socialize, accommodate, bolster egos, and appreciate. I absorb idiotic flattery from men three times my age, smile patiently when women demand, object, and belittle.
Then I get home and shut myself in my own introvert's hole. And I wonder, does forced socialization allow the introvert to feign relationships and/or interaction? In forced social situations are people ever able to connect with others? Does this sort of interaction detract from the motivation to form real and deep relationships?

To be continued....

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