I was watching a video on Myers-Briggs Personality Types today and learned that my type has an artistic side. Well duh! The speaker mentioned INFJ‘s often draw, paint or play an instrument. This left me feeling a bit perplexed.

I’ve never felt a desire to draw or paint. Yes, I took piano lessons for a while but it just wasn’t for me. So how is it that I’m a ‘creative‘?

I don’t see myself as a creative person. It goes back to when I was a child. Being creative was looked at as having some sort of terminal disease. Being an artist was an unacceptable career choice.

Today, yet again, I thought, “Where is your creativity? All you do is spread topsoil, dig holes, and spread mulch. Who can’t do that?”

Luckily, I caught myself before it spiraled out of control.

I don’t think I’ll ever find a way to communicate what I do effectively. There’s more to it than digging and mulching.

Designing, installing and maintaining landscapes is my form of self-expression.

I look at a space and figure out how to make it look best.

I’ve spent a lifetime learning about plants and observing how plants perform in landscapes. I’ll never stop learning.

Part of the design process, for me, is to stare at a space and let my mind wander, almost subconsciously, and see what pops into it. My Myers-Briggs Type’s dominant function is intuition.

Before I learned my personality type I talked about how a design vision appears almost immediately when I walk onto a property. I’m not kidding when I say that. I see the big picture and then work down to the details.

Am I an artist? Yes, yes I am.

The landscape is my canvas, my tools are the brushes, and plants are the colors.

Once again, I’d like to say, “Hi! My name is John and I’m an artist.”

For what it’s worth, they say INFJ types can be good writers too. However, it’s very draining.