Princess M talks about Good and Evil

"The hardest lesson for an INFP is to let someone you love go and let him/her make those mistakes you KNOW will be painful."

Many of you already know Princess M from her very popular article THE PRINCESS WHO READ TOO MUCH.

See the complete Keirsey statement, click here.

Also read other contributions by infps as well ...

audra | june | jane mulliken | kati

an important message for infps

 

The Nature of Good and Evil from the infp Perspective

I agree with Keirsey that INFPs are fascinated/obsessed/driven to ponder the question of good vs. evil. Although we are dedicated to goodness, the light and healing, I disagree with the statement that INFP's are taught that evil exists. We inherently KNOW that it exists without anyone telling us, thank you very much. It is obvious in all that we observe, read and feel that there is a fundamental dichotomy in life. The universe exists in a balanced state and you cannot have good without evil, positive without negative, light without dark. To the degree that goodness and beauty exists within one person, the equal amount of darkness and evil also resides. How we choose to live our life is entirely up to us, and neither the saint nor the sinner has more right to feel superior over the other.


As a child, I wanted to heal the world of all its hurts. I saw how beautiful it could be, and didn't understand why no one around me could see it also. Anytime I felt or saw someone in pain I wanted to take their pain from them into myself, making their life better, easier.

As an adult, I know that this is not always the best course. People must learn their own life lessons, and to remove the obstacles and pain for them is to do them a great disservice. They cannot grow and fulfill their potential and destiny in life without effort. The hardest lesson for an INFP is to let someone you love go and let him/her make those mistakes you KNOW will be painful.


We're always the hero/heroine of the story and good ALWAYS triumphs over evil, no matter how dark and desperate it seems. INFP's know that nothing lasts forever, the Great Wheel turns, and the cycle repeats. And, although the good guys win, we know that somewhere, sometime, somehow, the bad guys will be back, and the stage will be set for the next generation of heroes.

The nature of what is "good" and what is "evil" mutates over time, social concepts and popular beliefs. Boiled down, "good" is what promotes us to a higher plane of existence into the presence of the light and "evil" is that which drags us lower where we touch the absence of the light. Whether we are considered a good person or evil person depends on what percentage of our life we spend in the light or the void.


The scariest thing for me, as a child, was recognizing and accepting my "evil twin". I generally tolerated teasing, which I hated, for long periods of time and then, I would snap and lash out. On one occasion, when I was 11-13 years old, my brother, a year older than I, had been tormenting me, as usual. I'd had enough. I got so angry that I picked up the vacuum cleaner wand and hose (it was one of those old Eureka canister vacuums), brandished it, and went after him like Don Quixote charging a windmill.

I clearly remember the rage and my sincere desire to cause bodily harm and beat the crap out of him. I wanted to physically hurt him for all the perceived emotional/psychic hurts I had endured from him and everyone else. Fortunately, he quickly ran away from me, probably reacting viscerally to the fiery, red rage I was projecting from every pore in my body.


The aftermath of the incident is also etched into my brain. I was horrified to find that I was capable of such anger and realized that I could easily kill someone in the heat of passion. I spent the next several hours crying and sobbing uncontrollably and just wanted my mother to come home, hold me, and tell me that it was okay. That I was okay. That everyone felt the same and I was not alone. Of course, that didn't happen. I couldn't explain or make anyone understand on a nonverbal level what I was so upset about, so I was left to cry myself out until I was emotionally exhausted. The certainty that I was capable of killing another human being has never left me, nor has my conviction that we, as humans, can transcend our own nature and become more than we can possibly imagine.


The fight between good and evil is eternal within ourselves, whether we choose to recognize or acknowledge it or not. At some point, we all make that pivotal choice. But don't worry, if we don't get it right this time around, there's always the next lifetime! :

Princess M

 

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THE BATTLE OF GOOD AND EVIL WITHIN THE INFP

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Complete definition of the infp type introvert from Keirsey.com Please visit www.keirsey.com for more complete information about all personality types, including the eight different types of introverts. Keirsey calls the infp, "The Healer".

"Healer Idealists are abstract in thought and speech, cooperative in striving for their ends, and informative and introverted in their interpersonal relations. Healers present a seemingly tranquil, and noticiably pleasant face to the world, and though to all appearances they might seem reserved, and even shy, on the inside they are anything but reserved, having a capacity for caring not always found in other types. They care deeply -- indeed, passionately -- about a few special persons or a favorite cause, and their fervent aim is to bring peace and integrity to their loved ones and the world.

"Healers have a profound sense of idealism derived from a strong personal morality, and they conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place. Indeed, to understand Healers, we must understand their idealism as almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. The Healer is the Prince or Princess of fairytale, the King's Champion or Defender of the Faith, like Sir Galahad or Joan of Arc. Healers are found in only 1 percent of the general population, although, at times, their idealism leaves them feeling even more isolated from the rest of humanity.?

STATEMENT IN REFERENCE ABOUT GOOD AND EVIL

"Healers seek unity in their lives, unity of body and mind, emotions and intellect, perhaps because they are likely to have a sense of inner division threaded through their lives, which comes from their often unhappy childhood. Healers live a fantasy-filled childhood, which, unfortunately, is discouraged or even punished by many parents. In a practical-minded family, required by their parents to be sociable and industrious in concrete ways, and also given down-to-earth siblings who conform to these parental expectations, Healers come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. Other types usually shrug off parental expectations that do not fit them, but not the Healers. Wishing to please their parents and siblings, but not knowing quite how to do it, they try to hide their differences, believing they are bad to be so fanciful, so unlike their more solid brothers and sisters. They wonder, some of them for the rest of their lives, whether they are OK. They are quite OK, just different from the rest of their family-swans reared in a family of ducks. Even so, to realize and really believe this is not easy for them. Deeply committed to the positive and the good, yet taught to believe there is evil in them, Healers can come to develop a certain fascination with the problem of good and evil, sacred and profane. Healers are drawn toward purity, but can become engrossed with the profane, continuously on the lookout for the wickedness that lurks within them. Then, when Healers believe thay have yielded to an impure temptation, they may be given to acts of self-sacrifice in atonement. Others seldom detect this inner turmoil, however, for the struggle between good and evil is within the Healer, who does not feel compelled to make the issue public." [the end]

Most infps I talk to relate to these statements immediately? How about you? What do you think? Please express your opinion, anonymously or in an essay or article.

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