The Power of Authenticity and a Rich Imagination

I think that an INFP's most powerful strength is our authenticity. 

As children, we had a strong imagination, quirky personality, and powerful excitement and curiosity. This results in us having a unique way of viewing the world. As we grow up, we go through the indoctrination of society. All the check boxes of how we should present ourselves to the world in terms of appearances and achievements. We want to fit in, to belong, to not be judged weird. We get hurt because of our sensitivity and vulnerability and think there is something wrong with our unique way of viewing the world.

I have felt like a loner most of my life. In middle school, the final week of school, we were usually allowed to do whatever we wanted. While the other kids went out and played, I would sit in class and read with a mountain of my books around me, or before e-books were released go to the ‘computer lab’ and type digital copies of my favourite books. I started wanting to be like the ‘cool kids,’ which meant to stop being so shy, weird and good and be more of a rebel – breaking the rules, drinking, smoking, and having fun. And it worked for a time, until I still couldn’t get a girlfriend, and snapped back to authenticity. Going to nerd events related to like e-sports and meeting online friends IRL, Anime con, getting into spirituality and personal development.

What Authenticity Means for Me

I think authenticity is more like letting go of the conditioning and bad things that happened to us and the idea that rejection means something is wrong with us and our self-worth. And just putting yourself and who you are first, while finding the right balance between authenticity and relatability. 

I went for a personal development 4-day event which just finished yesterday and that’s what he said. He said I can use authenticity to say I want to get naked and lick the floor and none of you would be present today – this is an extreme example using humour to make a joke of it, but it’s true. We want to be authentic but we don’t want to like abuse it going overboard. But after a lifetime of undervaluing ourselves by wearing a ‘social mask’, it is important to get into it. Hiding struggles and limiting beliefs and all the things which are too embarrassing or will make you rejected, and trying to be normal and do everything that will be accepted by others. After a lifetime of that, it is important to put yourself first.

This article is about INFP strengths like plural so why am I spending 400 words on this one quality – authenticity? Well, I think that once we learn to be ourselves, to feel whole, to trust our intuition and gut over what others say and their judgements, to pursue what we love. This just gives us so much aliveness and energy when we find a way to make things work out. 

Of course, standing out by being yourself can result in negative consequences. Other people might not like your authenticity. Your parents might punish you for it or worry about your future (if you do not tick the boxes of achieving things which lead to a safe career), you might be bullied by your peers, you might feel alone. Choosing authenticity isn’t easy – it requires a lot of uncomfortable moments, figuring things out as you go along your own unique path. But at times it feels so rewarding and it is possible to align with people who support your path to authenticity and love you for who you are. 

How our INFP strengths stem from being authentic

So, now we covered authenticity, let’s get into some INFP strengths – once you have authenticity and follow the metaphorical north on your compass, leading you where you want to go. You have a rich imagination which can lead to all kinds of creative artistic expression, such as writing, drawing, music, which can grow in power as you develop mastery over your craft. INFPs have been judged so much that we are very good at not judging others for being weird – we might judge people run by their ego such as only thinking about money or thinking because they have power they are better than others – but we do not judge others for things like their personal taste or strange hobbies which they find fun or things like that.  

Further strengths: immersion and reading other people

I think because we have a rich imagination, we can be ‘absorbed’ by what we are doing. When reading a book or watching a movie, we can immerse ourselves into the world. We can immerse others with our creative artistic expression. And when we focus on other people, we can also learn to attune to them and what they are like or how they are feeling. We can pay attention to changes in body language or what they say with their face or eyes, and tell when something is wrong or different. Or if they are not being authentic to themselves.

Or we can be good at giving other people advice. We can hold multiple people’s perspectives without labeling it as good or bad – but just observing what would be best for the given situation. This gets better as we develop mastery over authenticity and our sensitivity, without letting our emotions control us.