[android654]

Its no secret to myself that I'm quite usually at odds with most of the problems most INFPs seem to have, so this might be a bit different from most of the other threads around here.



So here's the fundamental question I've been wondering when reading the musings of INFPs. Would you rather be day dreaming or doing?

And I understand many with put forth the argument, "my fantasies are far superior to anything this three dimensional world can offer," but how true is that statement? There are many people from all walks of life doing the unthinkable and leaving their mark in the world as the few who were truly remarkable. These aren't jsut those who are well to do, the rich, poor, disabled, athletically superior, the average, and geniuses doing things few could dream of, yet most INFPs can only stretch their imaginations far enough to fantasize about a hug and kiss on the cheek. Surely the INFP pool has to be more diverse than it seems to be.

[Seanna]

Its no secret to myself that I'm quite usually at odds with most of the problems most INFPs seem to have, so this might be a bit different from most of the other threads around here.

So here's the fundamental question I've been wondering when reading the musings of INFPs. Would you rather be day dreaming or doing?

And I understand many with put forth the argument, "my fantasies are far superior to anything this three dimensional world can offer," but how true is that statement? There are many people from all walks of life doing the unthinkable and leaving their mark in the world as the few who were truly remarkable. These aren't jsut those who are well to do, the rich, poor, disabled, athletically superior, the average, and geniuses doing things few could dream of, yet most INFPs can only stretch their imaginations far enough to fantasize about a hug and kiss on the cheek. Surely the INFP pool has to be more diverse than it seems to be.

It really depends for me.

I will preface my answer by stating I read the ISFP description tonight for the first time and a lot of it really sounded like me, though I score so low in the Se department I can't possibly see how I am an ISFP. Anyways...

If I really, truly desire something, I am not content with just daydreaming about it. I am very tenacious and will move heaven & earth to make it a reality. I find daydreaming a suitable replacement when what I want cannot be achieved (after I have tried everything), but there is always a melancholy longing there that doesn't make me content like actually doing. However, a lot of times after I have achieved or obtained what I am seeking, I find it is often a letdown, that I idealized it way too much, and that my daydream was actually better than reality.

If that makes any sense at all :)

[Wanderlust94]

That's a tough call. I frequently daydream about doing something. Let me think about this and hopefully come back in time to edit my answer.

[Confounded]

I really think I'd rather be doing than daydreaming.
However, most of the things I daydream are impossible for me to do -- because of the values I hold, physical limitations, environmental restrictions, etc etc...

But I wonder,
If I went out and experienced something half as grand as my dreams, would it be more satisfying than dreaming?
My guess is that it would be. Well, I've got my whole life ahead of me... hopefully I can answer this question when I grow old.

[Foe]

Seeing as I usually daydream about what I want to happen in the future, I have to say I would highly prefer, beyond shadow of a doubt, doing.

If you don't work to achieve your dreams, you can only dream that you achieve.

[demonfart]

doing :)
i want to make that dream a reality :D

[dormouse]

I think that the whole life of an INFP is about facing the fact that most of our dreams never will happen the way we dream them.
However, making a dream come true (even if it's not as perfect as we originally thought) is so satisfying for me that I always feel great when I accomplish something I've dreamt of, whether it's an idea materialized into art, a goal I set and complete or a person I get to know and be with. Maybe I'm just so sick of not doing anything that everything I do feels good, but it's a feeling that I'm connected, and that counts - when I feel and see the impact my existence has on reality. It feels... real.

[ericajoy]

Doing.

If we figure out the meaning behind the daydreams, we can figure out a way to live our dreams in this world.

I was obsessed with being a cleric - healer. Healer in this world felt limited to becoming a doctor or a nurse or a psychologist, but I didn't want to do that. I started thinking about what healing is and what has been healing for me and realized that my yoga and meditation are healing. Massage therapy is healing. I can be a yoga instructor / massage therapist and show others the path that has been healing for me. But I was only able to learn this by healing myself.

If you dream of riding dragons what is it about that that attracts you? Is it working with exotic animals? Is it flight, the view from up high? Or maybe dragonriders in your world have a reputation or a special role?

For me, daydreams are a way of being in touch with what is really important to me, so I can live what is really important to me.

[Michael82]

Would you rather be day dreaming or doing?

You're asking the wrong question, because doing is not an option, the point is what you finally bring forward: a book like Lord of the Rings or a car that can go 260 mph?

:-)

[Moss Icon]

For just about all my life the core-motivation behind my day-dreaming has been the idea they could become a reality. Even the impossible stuff. In a way I might also say "my imagination is superior to reality" but that doesn't mean I prefer it to stay imagination. Dreaming is more of a reflex for me (and for INFPs generally, I suspect.) It just happens. Something captures our imagination and we're off. The only major thing that stops me from 'doing' (at least where the possible is concerned) is self-doubt and the frustration that I can't always make things match my imagination. Making imagination reality is pretty hard to do. I certainly rather be doing it, literally and physically, but it's so often not an option. It's true that I can while away time wishing to get started on the 'doing' and never doing it, an *N*P problem all-round, maybe? But generally these days I try to engage myself in doing what I can do and dream the rest.