Kallhall Boys

Behavioral Patterns Unraveled In 2015 I discovered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a personality categorizing theory based on works on human archetypes by Carl Jung. It is constructed more from clinical observation than traditional scientific studies, so it has its critics. The five-factor model (Big 5) however, seems to be much more rigid and scientific and the similarities are quite clear. For me, it's beyond doubt that MBTI can give valuable insights to how different personalities functions and expresses themselves in the social world. I did several online tests, like 15 or so, most with the same result (about 70% INFP and 30% INTP). On one of the most popular sites, 16personalities.com , however, the explanations and the choice of words describing those profiles amazed me. Now, I'm aware of the tendency to embrace positive descriptions about oneself - and that positive descriptions can apply to almost anyone - but I have been an introspective brooder all my life...

In 1994 Javed went up north to do the military service, which at this point was mandatory for all men. He got placed in the largest garrison in Sweden, near the town Boden. This garrison is mainly housing regiments of the Swedish Army. I was taking care of his apartment (and his computer...) most of the time during this period, sometimes accompanied with another childhood friend, Robert. I cannot remember that Amy (Javed's mother) was there at any point during the eight-month duration of the military service.  Javed would either send me letters and postcards (like the one starting this post which is a scan of one of the cards) or just leave them in the apartment for me to stumble upon later. I kept them, and I've scanned them. Now I want to share some of them, illuminating his eighteen-year-old spirit and his life shortly before moving to the US. Rough translation below each page (when necessary). I may fault in translation here and there, but I might also be corre...

One of my oldest and dearest friends Javed succumbed to a car accident December 28. Even though he would remain on life support for almost a week thereafter, I consider this date to be the end of his consciousness that I so often would connect to. We grew up in a small, insignificant suburb to Stockholm, Sweden, by the name Kallhäll. Strictly speaking, Javed moved there at the age 9 after a nomadic lifestyle in other countries. Without doubt this Swedish suburb would gradually manifest itself as the anchor in the world to Javed. He spent ten profound years there with me and other friends. We made childhood special. The very first activity we did was to play a video game together at a local video store. The very last thing we did was also to play a game together, not many hours before the terrible accident. This game happened to be Grand Theft Auto V, to some bleak irony. We had tried to play it before but decided to give it another go. That evening we formed group by the name ...