Characters 3.2: IMOGENE (ISFP)
ESTJ
Systematic, organized, relies upon facts and policies. Uses resources efficiently. Develops logical conclusions. Concrete, straightforward; requires clear specifications. Expects measurement by fair, explicit standards. Conscientious. Does not bring personal issues into the mix. Realistic. Focuses on concrete results. Enjoys action, and interaction with a variety of personalities. Takes charge easily, a role accepted by others.
ESTJ
Systematic, organized, relies upon facts and policies. Uses resources efficiently. Develops logical conclusions. Concrete, straightforward; requires clear specifications. Expects measurement by fair, explicit standards. Conscientious. Does not bring personal issues into the mix. Realistic. Focuses on concrete results. Enjoys action, and interaction with a variety of personalities. Takes charge easily, a role accepted by others.
ISFP
Driven by inner values. Wants to care deeply about any activity. Focused on details, preferably with real situations, tangible objects, those who are in the room. Can be loyal, affirming, supportive—but only under the right situations. Works and lives independently—but with a support system nearby. Committed, but needs freedom and personal space. Good aesthetic sense, directly tied to inner growth. Will personalize her workspace, and focus on a powerful sense of purpose. Does not provide negative feedback, so tends to avoid some situations. Simple, practical, helpful. More on the quiet side, not a public speaker, better behind the scenes.
Potential Areas of Conflict
Avoids conflict. Prefers to live in her own cocoon. May not see every tough choice clearly. Clear as the photos may be, the edges of her life are not in focus. Makes decisions with heart, not mind. If logic conflicts with feelings or emotions, logic loses. Lives in the moment. Takes criticism very personally. May become overwhelmed by big ideas. Struggles to understand long-term goals, deadline orientation: she sets her own fuzzy priorities. Does not criticize, even when necessary or appropriate.
Brief description: Imogene can assemble a big picture, but as our image curator, she attends to aesthetics and nuance. Her profile is decidedly low and understated. She is not one to press her own ideas by shouting at others. Still, her values are strongly held, expressed through visual choices and impressions. Those values: humans are most successful when they cheerfully share ideas and collaborate for the common good, and take care of one another. In Imogene’s case, strong service orientation and aesthetic experience have become one.
Purpose: Imogene is our image curator. She spends her days finding pictures to help participants gain wisdom, then, builds gallery exhibitions to fill her wall of the cafe. She listens, observes, assembles solutions in a tasteful, pleasing way. The slightest detail—colors, textures, placements, light, shadow, contrast, smell, taste, feeling—matters a great deal. Her patient listening allows other characters the opportunity to do monologues without seeming as though they're onstage alone. Her passion is black-and-white, but she has learned to be flexible, and allows muted color into her life. Bright colors, like loud voices and outsized opinions, are garish, and should be discouraged. Still, she’ll sing and dance with the best of them (and as dancing goes, better than the best of them). Being a nice person is the way we get through each day.
Gender/Heritage: Possible slight British accent; there is quiet privilege in her background. She was a photo journalist during the war (which war is never specified). She's Dorothea Lange, Margaret Bourke-White, Imogen Cunningham, and others with exquisite visual gifts. Many years ago, there were flings and deeper relationships with people whose names you’d recognize (perhaps now from 20th century history books). That’s how she learned to listen.
Physical Description: Imogene also an older character, physically small and wiry, once a venturesome athlete and a dancer. Now, she’s a proper lady who sits in the corner, sipping tea. Busily focused on her work, Imogene maintains the digital garden out back. It makes people happy, but it’s a work-in-progress (one should always pursue at least one work-in-progress, and it forces one to bend and stretch).
Psychological: Always in a supporting role. Low profile is always preferable. The work of the hands speaks with greater eloquence than anything that might be uttered. Let others take the lead. Imogen goes with the flow and supports the cause with practical, hands-on implementation in the gallery and the garden. There is no distinction between work and play: everything is enjoyable, but one must tend to responsibilities (the gallery) before enjoying hobbies or the outdoors (the garden). She sets priorities and sticks with her decisions. Just to stand next to another person (or plant or animal) with no intention to influence or change it, or to take its picture, or to arrange it on a wall, this is a suitable place for me. Do I underestimate myself? A question for you, not for me.
Fear: Imogene was always afraid during the war, but she didn't die, so she trusts that. (Note: when we refer to “the war,” we really mean all of the recent wars, not any one in particular.)
Social: Take the time to enjoy the moment, the surroundings, the others and the expressions in their eyes. Loyalty, cooperation, courtesy, exacting standards, modesty, sympathy, and a kind and gentle nature—these are hallmarks of a life well-lived. No need to be the center of attention, or to draw attention to one’s self or one’s ideas, or to boast. Better to stick to what one knows how to do, and to do it very well indeed.
Key Relationships: Other characters, celebrities, visitors, experts approach her, explain their problem or their side of issue. As she nods and smiles, they work out the issue on their own, then thank Imogene for being so helpful. She is always nice, an old soul in an even older body. Sometimes lives in fantasy, in daydreams. Does she have a cat on her lap? Why is it named Schrö?
Place in Cafe: Imogene is most comfortable at her small tea table, or in the garden. Behind her is the workspace for the gallery. The gallery itself is several steps away, or may occupy a wall (or a virtual wall) that's visually present in the cafe.
0-to-60: When the going gets tough, Imogen goes to her garden.
Accessory Characters: Ambiguous cat on her lap. Sometimes there, sometimes not. Depends upon unexplainable factors. The cat can communicate, but not with everyone.
Concept Art
