Cave mode wears on me quickly, I don't like being in that state for long, I feel unproductive and uninspired, so little information coming in from the outside world(yeah I'm a weird INFJ). I get a healthy dose of isolation at least a few times a week. I make a point to have some "cave" time during the week or I know my reserves will dry up and I will go into full on cave mod for a few days and hate it. If I am wanting to go into cave mode and I need to drive somewhere I will roll my windows down and turn my music on and just sing as I drive not giving a flip about people staring at me, its sooo cathartic. One of the best ways I have experienced to really purge everything is I will go out and drive in the middle of the night(2-4 a.m.) when there are no cars on the street and just the lights of the city, windows rolled down and no music just relaxing, maybe a little music but turned down.
For me, I dunno if this applies to other INFJs but I hate being in cave mode too long, there is a great big world out there for us to be in, to be inspired from to get charged from if we just take from it what can really charge us. My entire day will be changed by something I can draw out from the world around me that others won't notice or won't give as much importance to.
As INFJs we have the tendency to lock ourselves away from the world, in our own little shell for reasons specific to that person. I am not short changing or belittling the reasons for the isolation, I can only fathom the reasons of why a person would want to do so. However, don't forget how extraordinary the world outside our minds is. Even if the world has done terrible horrible things to us, it doesn't mean we have to turn our backs to it, we can charge head on into the world or maybe a little more cautiously and really take it slowly. Whatever is a person's circumstances are, don't forget how special we are to be living in a world so amazing, even with all of the pain and the hunger, we can change that, only if we go into the world, going into oneself won't solve everything.
Don't just stop and smell the roses of life, get out of your shell, walk out away from the road and walk amongst the trees. There is oh so much in the world that goes unappreciated that can really affect a person if you look hard enough and with a soft sensitive heart and eyes. Roll your winds down when you drive, don't close yourself off from the world more then you need to, to survive. Isolation is great and works wonders for us but don't forget how great, big, beautiful and awe inspiring the world is.
To grow we must go out of our comfort zone, we can only grow so much by going internally. It must be a balance, to go inside when we need it and to force ourselves out of our comfort zone to stir up growth and inspiration. Possibly even get recharged from the things outside of our minds.
“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die Discover that I had not lived.” Henry David Thoreau
thanks for the support....
