I asked Helia to do this interview with me to explore themes of inner emptiness, inner change, and variable sense of self. Before interviewing Helia, I already understood, or at least strongly suspected, that she was a EIE, as I typed her in this interview. And she also knew that I wanted to explore these themes in the interview.
But even so, I don't believe the rapidity at which her self concept became a discussion about the variability and indescribability of self, is doctored or really very prompted. In response to the very first "Tell me about yourself question" at 1:40, Helia struggles to describe herself, saying "I don't think there really is a true self, I think I'm a combination of actions, history choices." And 2:35 "It's hard to describe myself with a few words, because I'm a lot of things."
The whole interview showcases the themes of conscious transience and self confusion that often describe the Fe dominant types and especially so the EIE that is more divulging of the entire range of their emotional world, positive and negative both, than the ESE tends to display.
My description of the EIE has drawn some attention for its claims that EIEs sometimes see themselves as empty inside, or indescribable, or having a unclear sense of themselves. Nowhere does the description say that all EIEs have an unclear sense of who they are, but it does say that this theme presents itself in cases with moderate frequency. This claim has attracted some attention over the years, with some arguing that this is not so, that EIEs are not empty or confused about themselves inside, not as a typical theme. The best way to advance the discussion, then, is to provide casework and examples.
Let's be clearer about what Helia does and doesn't say in her self description (to the extent that we can). Helia doesn't describe herself as empty inside, generally explicitly rejecting the idea "No [I don't see myself as empty inside]" (9:20), "It's complicated; I'm not empty, but I'm not full" (10:25), and instead describing herself as full of contents inside, rather than empty. But, she does say that in the past, she has been empty (14:00). And she explains herself extensively, definitely struggling to describe herself in any consistent ways, emphasizing her transience of character, and emphasizing some confusion and clarity about who she is inside "at times I have an unclear sense of self" (6:25), "I view myself almost through an external lens" (7:00). Generally, (my summary), she is emphasizing that the process of self-discovery is highly variable depending on what we might experience.
Other EIEs have sometimes assented because of a similar process of transient emotional states that they feel empty inside. In some cases they shared their assent in interviews although for reasons of privacy and also, sadly, some technical issues with my recordings that failed to process correctly, I am not able to share all of my interviews. The whole interview is worth listening to to explore the theme, although the first 16 minutes are the most topical.
As an aside, since I noticed it while reviewing timestamps here, we can see the somewhat classical way Helia is ideologically pushy, in the case about the rather abstract condition of human fullness, around (12:00). The channelling and depth of fervor to her causes is also apparent at (28:00). Helia shows off her vibrancy and intentional control over her emotionality at 39:40. I didn't make this post to show off every confirmatory detail of the interview as it went along. This type is pretty obvious, my usual readers probably read her right away.
Other EIEs have sometimes assented because of a similar process of transient emotional states that they feel empty inside. In some cases they shared their assent in interviews although for reasons of privacy and also, sadly, some technical issues with my recordings that failed to process correctly, I am not able to share all of my interviews. The whole interview is worth listening to to explore the theme, although the first 16 minutes are the most topical.
As an aside, since I noticed it while reviewing timestamps here, we can see the somewhat classical way Helia is ideologically pushy, in the case about the rather abstract condition of human fullness, around (12:00). The channelling and depth of fervor to her causes is also apparent at (28:00). Helia shows off her vibrancy and intentional control over her emotionality at 39:40. I didn't make this post to show off every confirmatory detail of the interview as it went along. This type is pretty obvious, my usual readers probably read her right away.
