i want to write a bit about the second, and my personal favorite, dichotomy on the myers-briggs type indicator: intuition (n) and sensing (s).
if, like me, the second letter in your myers-briggs type is n, the type of information and experiences you most easily take in and trust are abstract, imaginative, theoretical. people who prefer intuition trust their internal ideas, thoughts and instincts. those who prefer intuition primarily use their own internal world's lens to experience the world. they tend to be imaginative and visionary.
people who prefer sensing, on the other hand, trust and like concrete, physical and known information and experiences. people who prefer sensing primarily use their five senses (sight, touch, taste, sound and scent) to experience the world. they tend to be grounded and solid.
one of the goals of the myers-briggs is to help people become aware of their inborn preferences so that they can actively seek balance in the opposite preferences for a fuller, richer life.
as a woman who strongly prefers intuition, i can stay in the beautiful and magical world in my head for hours and sometimes days. i like to daydream, imagine, and ponder. i relish and trust those fantastical flashes from my unconscious.
to balance intuition, i need to seek more grounded experiences and focus on activities that engage my five senses. the element that best incorporates all five senses for me is water:
seeing water: the sight of the great blue sea makes me feel part of a big world that i can trust. the straight blue horizon line reminds me that the world is perfectly balanced in space.
smelling water: the salt, the lives (fish, plants, sand, shells) it holds and nurtures. the scent of clean. the scent of childhood.
tasting water: it tastes like nothing. like space. like emptiness.
hearing water: one of my favorite sounds is the lonely drip of the faucet when i am lying in a quiet bath. its perfect cadence and tone ground me in the physical world. sometimes i submerge my head to lose myself in the underwater world of silence. the drip softly penetrates that world and calls me back to surface. to breathe.
touching water: as it rolls across my skin, the dirt of life--both physical and emotional--is cleansed. floating in water, my body is weightless and fluid and returns to its first environment. its home environment.
how do you experience water?
what are some ways you can live today through your five senses?
{beautiful water images are from my pinterest five senses board.}
if you are interested in a more spiritual and artful take on the myers-briggs, i'm in the process of creating a program. please see here. i'd love your thoughts and comments.
