1. Having a funny way of talking and behaving
Nothing too crazy, though I did begin working on getting rid of my rather thick Texas accent when I was in junior high, because I detested it. Now I have no accent. The only unusual quirks I can think of (these were in elementary), were the fact that I chewed on my pencils until they fell apart (nervous habit), and I used to write so tiny that the teachers forced me to write larger. I suppose I was generally a bit awkward. I often played by myself out of choice.
I went through an OCD phase when I was about nine or so, out of nervousness due to my father, during which I would constantly clean, dust and rearrange things, and continuously tell my mother I loved her, to the point I think it started to get on her nerves.
Not funny or unusual behavior, but I always had a crush on some girl or other, sometimes on girls in high school, when I was in elementary.
2. Being very funny, just acting kind of goofy and random
This was true, the acting goofy/random part, until about middle junior high, though not consistently. I began to become more self-conscious as I grew older and was exposed to negative judgments from certain peers (and my alcoholic bi-polar father), and then those raging hormones.
I was always rather witty, more of a dry, sarcastic sense of humor, though more passive than active. I recall a teacher in fourth grade praising my dry sense of humor to the class. I, being rather shy and not wanting to attract attention, jealousy, and attacks, began making fun of her on the spot. I was already not enormously popular, I didn’t need her help to become less so. Not my most shining moment, but this was self-preservation. This same teacher once encouraged me to act up, because I was too well behaved (man, that was a personal bit of sharing…).
3. Being very quiet (most of the time)
In general, I was a rather quiet person. Apparently, however, I was rather talkative when I was very young. My grandmother told me that I talked so much and asked so many questions when I was very young that it was difficult to get me shut up long enough to do anything else (eat, get dressed, etc). It gradually grew less, until late junior high, when I became rather quiet and sometimes used to wonder if it was possible to go so long without talking that I might forget how to speak. Now, I hardly speak at all. Maybe I said everything I need to say when I was young.
I think most who knew me growing up would attest to this, though not always, or even often, positively. I was, and perhaps am, something of an odd duck. I always walked the line between various groups, never quite fit in. Something of an awkward chameleon how cannot quite get the color right but enough to sort of blend in.
5. Being extremely creative, musically/drawing/ideas, sometimes people would tell me "How did you even think of that?"
Yes, very much. I was drawing and creating almost as soon as I could hold a pencil. When I was five or six, I used to create my own comic books (Cosmic Ant was my flagship effort, if memory serves, lot of gratuitous stick-figure death) and short stories. I churned out drawing after drawing, mostly fantasy and medieval stuff. Then I discovered Dungeons and Dragons when I was like seven or eight, and began creating my own (very simple) pen and paper role-playing games. I continued to draw a bit in high school, mostly portraits of women, but eventually gave it up (like so many things).
In high school I wrote and directed a play, a parody of Jeopardy. All of the more popular kids (mostly ‘jocks,’ and ‘cheerleaders‘) were engaged in a play for UIL (I was light guy...too shy to act), and there was a whole other portion of the class, mostly my ’misfits’ friends (‘metal heads,’ ‘hippies,’ ‘punk-rockers‘ ‘punk rock-hippies‘ ‘children of hippies,’ ‘nerds‘…including me in all categories…and an exchange student from Australia), who were taking the class to get out of other classes, had little desire to act, or else were not able as all the roles were taken, and so were studying theater for an hour each day. My teacher let me recruit them to perform the play (on the condition that I not neglect my duties on the lights). It was a hard sell for a few of them, but I finally got a caste together (some who were not even in theater). My teacher allowed me to open for a couple of private parent showings of the UIL play after the competition was over. It was a great success, and a lot of fun.
Please note that I use the term ‘misfit’ affectionately, and happily include myself under than banner. The vast majority of students in my school were engaged in agriculture and sports. A tiny minority us did not fit this mold.
6. Popular/social, sometimes outgoing and influential
I was never terribly social or popular growing up, until maybe my junior and senior year. I was still not terribly social, but became a bit more so, and achieved a measure of popularity, I suppose, in certain circles. I was definitely not in with the in crowd (and did not want to be, except for this one cheerleader…), more with my peeps, the aforementioned ‘misfits‘…
Yes (not bragging). I was generally the most academically adept person in my class, beginning with kindergarten, and always did well on those tests They administered. Much of the credit for this is due to my mother teaching me how to read and various other things before I ever started school. My place was usurped from about second to fifth grade by my (only) friend (probably INTP), but then he left to attend another school. I graduated valedictorian of my high school class (though there were only sixteen students).
9. Being very talented at certain skills, kind of like a jack of all trades situation. For instance I was really good at gymnastics as a kid, and skateboarding, breakdancing, doing flips and stuff.
Not really. I was good at a few things that I enjoyed, mostly nonphysical stuff. I was moderately good at water skiing and knee-boarding, I suppose, in the sense that I could do it without falling down (much) or breaking my arm.
10. In some ways nonchalant or not caring about things that others thought were important, sometimes mischievous or rude. Also being kind of zoned out sometimes.
I was sometimes mischievous, but rarely, if ever, rude. I was (am) often zoned out. I was extremely nonchalant about many things, most notably religion and church attendance. Now, I am even more often zoned out, and wholly unconcerned with the vast majority of things that others consider important (religion, traditions, holidays, politics), except to ridicule them (the things, not the people). I was, and am, very much an iconoclast living in Plato‘s Cave.
Also I'm very good at music and composing. When I first started hearing music as a kid I was more interested in the way all the instruments worked together rather than the feeling it gave me. I'm still like that, analytical of music.
I was not terribly good a playing or composing music, though I loved listening to it, especially the Beatles. I remember dancing to ’I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and ’I Saw Her Standing There’ so much with my sister and cousins that we wore the record out. It was the best thing I had ever heard in my entire life up to that point (like four or so). Actually, it still is. I dabbled in the guitar in high school, but was never fantastic at it. I am still not great, but better than I was.
My talents, if I possess any, are more in the field of writing. I was very much into satire from an early age, and in high school worked on the school paper, where I wrote scathing articles and drew the weekly cartoon, offering up satirical commentary on a number of social issues plaguing the school (some of which I may or may not have invented). The school mascot was a pirate, so I drew a parrot in pirate garb and christened the comic, The Ruffled Parrot (actually, I think my fantastically witty friend, came up with the name).
As far as friends, I generally had one, or perhaps two, close friends at an given time. My first friend was my cousin, also a male INFJ (I recently tested him).
I would say that, although I lead with Ni, and had a fairly well-developed Ti, that my Fe was much more powerful during my elementary and early junior high years. I think an abusive father and a lot of stress caused me to somewhat mask my Fe, bury underneath a wall of Ni/Ti. Like you, I would say that my Se was much more developed when I was very young. I spent equal time inside and outside, though I began to gravitate more toward inside activities as I grew older. I was fascinated by insects, especially ants, and with climbing trees.
Like you, I would range far and wide. I moved to a house on seventeen acres in the country when I was about eight, and I spent a considerable time exploring the surrounding forests and pastures, and those of our neighbors, slaying ogres and other beasties. My parents probably would have freaked if they knew how far I went. I remember I would often make my way through forests and swamps, some of them spooky and seemingly haunted (at least in my over active imagination) to a particular highway bridge. It was like my personal quest. It was never just a forest, never just a trail. It is a wonder I was never bitten by a snake (I saw many).
In high school I broadened my circle of friends a bit, though all told it was probably never more than four or five close friends. I did have quite a few less meaningful friendships, however. Ninth and tenth grades were rather awkward, as I did not really fit in, but after that I started to come into my own a bit more.
Okay...that was a somewhat intensely personal post...yeah...
