If you are an INFP writer or creative, you probably have lots of ideas. That’s the INFP extroverted intuition at work, creating reams and reams of possibilities.
On the one hand, this is wonderful! You have access to a form of creativity that doesn’t come easily to many people.
On the other hand, there’s definitely a downside to extroverted intuition as well. It keeps opening up new diverging paths and can leave us paralyzed as INFP writers and creatives.
As an INFP writer, it’s easy to feel paralyzed by choice.
Should I choose this idea or that? Should I follow this path or that? Which is the better idea? What might I miss out on if I choose this one thing?
This can really keep us going round and round in a loop.
Of course, there is merit to thinking before deciding what creative project to start. But if you are getting caught up in the “perfect idea” loop, then it’s time to make the good-enough decision.
Here is the thing. It doesn’t matter what you decide. It doesn’t matter which of the many ideas you catch by the tail and start working with. Who you are will come through any book, any creative project.
Whatever is coming through you has the kernel of your energy right now.
But it’s not possible to work on all of those ideas at once. Of course, you could start two books or two paintings and cycle between them. A lot of INFP writers and creatives work really well like that. This gives us enough variety and enough freedom.
But there’s a limitation here as well. We have to choose a few things out of the many.
So, if you are just starting out as an INFP writer or confused about what project to pick, make a good-enough decision.
Throw your hat over the fence. Commit to an idea, and then create freely inside this structure.
I did this when I started this blog many years ago. I am a private person, and yet, I also wrote from a personal place. I felt very conflicted about what I might end up writing and sharing. So, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to blog at all.
But I threw my hat over the fence and decided to do it. I wanted to get better at putting myself and my writing out into the world and a blog seemed a great way to do this. I made it up as I went along. I also made some mistakes and shared things I wished I hadn’t.
But blogging helped me unearth my voice. It helped me understand what I wanted to share and what I didn’t. Over the years, when writing within the margins of a blog felt confining, it nudged me to actually start writing a book, something I had dreamed of doing for years.
It also gave me the confidence that I could write a book, that I could figure it out as I went along.
So, if you make a decision and throw your hat over the fence, there will be some bumps in the journey because that’s how journeys are. But you will also find and discover beautiful things along the way. You’ll gain confidence by doing things, making mistakes, and gaining experience.
If you are an INFP writer or creative, I would tell you something I would tell my perpetually seeking younger self.
Choose. Burn some bridges. Throw your hat over the fence.
You never know what’s on the other side!
Ritu Kaushal is the author of the memoir The Empath’s Journey. Set during the first few years after she emigrated from India to the United States, it connects personal stories with practical tools to help highly sensitive people channel their gifts.
Ritu also works as a creativity coach for blocked writers.
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