Merry Christmas, everyone!
So, continuing with my plan to write blog entries that are simple and easy so I can focus on my more serious writing projects, I decided to write about what INTJs like about Christmas. Obviously, this is going to be somewhat subjective since not everyone likes Christmas (how dare they!). But because I know that Christmas seems to be an extraverted holiday and INTJs are very introverted, many would assume INTJs don’t like it, but there’s a quite lot to like as you shall see. And as I have been doing, I’ll explain what INTJs like about Christmas as it appeals to each of our functions in our function stack, and because it’s easier to do, I’ll be starting from the bottom again. Ho ho, let’s go!
Se—Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
My gosh! What about Christmas doesn’t excite Se?! The whole festive season is a feast for the extraverted sensual function. There are decorations a plenty, mostly in bright, happy colors, and they’re everywhere. They’re on the walls, the banisters, the exteriors of houses, why, we even bring in a tree from outside and put lights and garland on it, and hang ornaments on that sucker. And speaking of the tree, there are the smells of Christmas: the smell of the tree, the cedar roping, cookies being baked, food cooking, and strangely enough, winter with all of its snow and ice has a smell. Have you ever noticed it?
Going back to the food, there’s mountains of it! I bake a lot of cookies every year; double batches of chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal chocolate chip, gingerbread, and shortbread. And my Old Man bakes bread every year. It wouldn’t be the holidays without the smell of my father’s bread wafting throughout the season. Add to that the music and the feeling of tearing open wrapping paper and receiving gifts. Oh, and I guess giving them, too. And then there are the movies: Christmas Vacation, The Christmas Carol, White Christmas, Holiday Inn, A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and many more. But not Diehard, Gremlins, or The Nightmare Before Christmas. Those aren’t Christmas movies and you can’t convince me otherwise. I’m also on the fence about Home Alone.
Fi—Good King Wenceslas
Now, admittedly, when it comes to Christmas and its season, Se is really the function that has the most fun. But that doesn’t mean that Christmas doesn’t appeal to the others. Looking at an INTJ’s tertiary function, I wouldn’t say Christmas is necessarily a time of fun for Fi, but it is a time for Fi to be fulfilled. You should be charitable the whole year round, but Christmas does offer an awfully strong reminder to be charitable. It gives an INTJ a chance to prove their charity. Most of the time we’re so caught up in our misanthropy, it can be difficult for us to remember that we do like people…on an individual basis, of course. So, INTJs are likely to take up the mantle of charity and make a few donations. I once bought a weighted blanket for the mother of a down-on-their-luck family that my office was sponsoring one Christmas.
Additionally, Christmas is a time of tradition, usually family or religious traditions, but sometimes the individual has traditions, too. These traditions, especially if tied to a holiday or time of season can be quite edifying. A relatively new tradition of mine is that I bake a bunch of Christmas cookies, like I said above. They’re all made from scratch—absolutely no premade mixes here! While it is tiring and time consuming, I do enjoy the end result massively (Se appeal), and it does fulfill me. It makes something about the Christmas preparatory period all mine. Although, I must admit, I don’t find it fun. But, if Christmas cookies are going to be baked, they’re going to be baked right. Speaking of…
Te—The Twelve Days of Christmas
As I said above, if you’re going to bake Christmas cookies, you should do it right, and Te makes sure of that. Part of the holiday fun is making sure things are done right. You don’t just throw the ornaments on the tree and hope for the best, or wrap the garland where you want, or mess with cookie recipes. Are you trying to ruin everyone’s holiday?! If we’re going to celebrate, we’re going to celebrate right, so make sure you do everything to the fullest extent you can. Get a real tree, actually decorate it, keep it up for all twelve days of Christmas, which start on the 25th and end on January 6th, and keep the religious feasts and other traditions.
This may start to sound like an Si rant, but it’s not. Te regulates and enforces order, making sure that standards are upheld, making sure that we get the most holiday fun out of doing things a certain way. Not to mention, if you are a Christian, logic dictates that you remember and celebrate the true spirit of the season. You recognize the time of Advent, you go to church on Christmas, you remember the twelve days of, meaning you also go to church on New Year’s and you celebrate Three King’s Day, also known as the Epiphany. And, speaking of the true meaning of Christmas…
Ni—O Come All Ye Faithful
Finally, there’s Ni, the INTJ dominant function. So, what is in the Christmas season for Ni? As I was saying above, the true meaning of Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, Christmas is fun when it’s celebrated in its secular way, but it’s not about the presents. I know some people will raise Cain because it was appropriated from a pagan holiday, but that was so long ago, what’s the point in getting worked up about it now?
The fact of the matter is that Christmas is derived from the words “Christ’s Mass”, a celebration of Jesus Christ’s coming to earth to deliver us from our sin. With Christmas being a Christian holiday and being preceded by the Advent season (“advent” is a Latin word that means “coming” [advenire=to come]), it’s celebrated as the approach and arrival of Christ, but you already know that. And some will say that his redemptive message and calling is more befitting of Easter, which is true, but given Christ’s conception and birth, we are reminded of several things.
The first is the importance of family as Mary was his mother and Joseph was his adoptive father, and we must remember that both Mary and Joseph showed some doubt toward the astounding nature of the vocation for which they were chosen. In agreeing to become the Holy Family, they showed great faith, hope, and charity, which are the theological virtues. And if you want a more human appreciation of the three, go watch any of The Christmas Carol’s out in the world. Charles Dickens was trying very hard to make a point about Christmas. You can also listen to any of the old Christmas carols—the true Christmas music. Forget the jingle bells, the Santa, baby, and who cares about Frosty or the chipmunks. Listen to O Holy Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World, just to name a few. And!—we have the true meaning of Christmas in the Peanuts’ movie A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Anyway, that’s enough from the soapbox. The point is that Ni gets caught up in all the meaning of the season. Ni wants to know and ponder the truth, and is called to a higher understanding. Well, there’s no higher calling or greater truth than that found in the Son of God. As the Bible says, “all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16 NSRV). So keep Christ in Christmas.
Conclusion—We Wish You Merry Christmas
So, that’s it then. All the ways explained as to what INTJs like about Christmas. I know it’s not a long blog or very deep, but it doesn’t have to be. Many of these things appeal to the other types, and if something appeals to everyone, it is a part of the common understanding, is it not? And I’m sure it was enlightening for some of you to hear that INTJs like Christmas, let alone a holiday. I quite enjoy Christmas myself—it’s my favorite holiday. And even with things the way they are due to the plague, it’s still my favorite. I know that not everyone is so blessed, but remember, it’s not about the tree, decorations, food, or presents—it’s about something greater than all those things. So, from me and mine to you and yours, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas. God bless us, everyone.
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