Jung at Heart: Quarantine exposes your core personality

The Checklist Queen: SJ (Sensing/Judging)

At first, the change to her routine outraged her. But now she’s got her pandemic groove on. The Checklist Queen (or King) is the one who brokered a deal to ship 50,000 face masks into the country and/or amassed an army of stay-at-home everybodys to sew masks for charity. Even as the quarantine drags on, she’s out doing lunges and sit-ups on the balcony and baking endless loaves of bread and cake. She has the nervous energy of someone who knows we’re all done for, but fervently maintains busy-ness in the hopes it will keep the inevitable at bay. Maybe it will. Maybe it won’t. Either way, she will come out of the quarantine with killer abs and an enviably completed to-do list.

To all the Checklist Queens out there, feel free to keep your routines and wash the door handles, floors, bathrooms, and the dog after every walk. Unfortunately, not everyone lives to triumphantly cross out completed tasks. Be kind and cut the rest of us some slack. We will, in return, not tell you that you’re harshing our vibe by asking us to wipe down the faucet handles for the 36th time in the day. We really do love and appreciate everything you’re doing for the rest of us.

The TikTokkers: SP (Sensing/Perceiving)

Playful, exciting, charming and action-oriented -- the TikTokker is cruising through this quarantine like Matthew McConahey works his way through a crowd of fans. TikTokkers seem to know a lot of actual facts about COVID-19 and somehow remain super chill. In fact, they seem to be down right thriving in this time of crisis and the adventure of it all. When they’re not DJing the nightly neighborhood balcony party, they’re broadcasting live-stream comedy shows, and learning every TikTok dance out there. They don’t care if you like it or not; they just need to perform, which may or may not include defying quarantine rules for a small taste of freedom.

To all the TikTokkers, go ahead, please, by all means show us how to shuffle dance or do the foot shake. But do you have to take the long way to the grocery store or walk the dog a few extra blocks? It just makes some of us nervous that you might contaminate the innocent with your impulse to break the rules. We love your fun DJ dance parties, even if the transitions are a little glitchy. We promise to (virtually) show up and clap for all of your performances and heart the videos you post online. 

The Strategists.  NT (iNtuiting/Thinking)

All hail the Strategists, knowledge masters of the universe. (Seriously, hail them. These guys are way ahead of the rest of us, so play nice.) These planners are ready for anything this quarantine throws at them, but your feelings aren’t the first things they consider. The Strategists love a good WhatsApp chat debate. They know everything about everything, especially COVID-19, and may leave you feeling discredited. You have to give it to them for being ready though, not only with organic hair dye, coffee, and specialty groceries, but also for anything else quarantine life, and life after it, may throw their way. If you have a question, they probably know the answer (and they will tell you whether you ask them or not). It may look like they’re wasting time on YouTube, but they’re actually learning, not just pretending to, like the rest of us. For all their intellect, however, these people will not emerge as society’s heroes, unless quarantine life becomes the new normal, in which case, they will take over.

To the Strategists out there, please continue learning. Despite Google, we still need a walking, texting reference library to constantly (annoyingly) fact-check us so we don’t fall victim to fake news and paranoia. Just remember to be kind to your loving family and friends, imperfect as we are. Bonus points for making us not feel like idiots. If you can do that, we promise to stop calling you a buzzkill. We’ll even listen to your Covid-19 exit-strategy / normalization procedure...again.

The Cheerleader. NF (iNtuiting/Feeling)

Hey you guys, let’s take a Bollywood dance class so we can share an experience! The Cheerleaders know we’re in this together (and they don’t just mean the humans). Idealists that they are, they know we will emerge as a socially-conscious collective on the other side of this pandemic, in harmony with each other and with nature. But in the meantime, they want to take this meaningful opportunity to cultivate empathy among us, bringing us together (at an appropriate social distance), maybe at one of the TikTokker’s DJ dance parties or a Zoom happy hour.

To the Cheerleaders out there, we’ve got spirit, yes we do! Keep cheering us on to love and nourish each other with our special gifts. We may not admit it, but your efforts are breaking up the monotony. Maybe cut back a little on the essential oils and explanations of how the planet’s energy is changing. We promise to hug you and tell you how glad we are to be stuck inside with you. 

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Teja Rau is the content editor for The Barcelona Edit, an online publication for the international community living in Barcelona, Spain. After a 17-year career in law, public policy, employee training, and government relations, she moved to Barcelona to explore life on this side of the pond. When she’s not writing, she’s organizing online lip sync contests, working on her next stand-up routine, and perfecting flamenco dance steps.

Wendeline de Zan is a Book Author, Public Speaker and Coach who has been teaching leadership throughout Europe, North and South America, Scandinavia, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa for over 20 years. When she’s not coaching corporate teams or grad students, you’ll find her doing box jumps at the gym or appreciating food and wine with friends on a terrace.