I’ve become obsessed with the Enneagram. Do you know about this? It’s a personality test
I’ve become obsessed with the Enneagram. Do you know about this? It’s a personality test I guess, like Myers Briggs and Strengthsfinder… But so much more to me. It’s hundreds of years old, with modern layers and add-ons. It posits that there are 9 basic personality types. You probably fall into one number or another. If you’re a 1 you’re an idealist. If you’re a 3 you’re an achiever. If you’re a 9 you’re a peacemaker. I’m a 7: the enthusiast. What’s incredible about the Enneagram is its emphasis that every light casts a shadow. As a 7, I’m bright and fun-loving and childlike. I am an optimist in all things. I am Peter Pan. I see the beauty in every small moment. I can turn a trip to the supermarket into an adventure. . But I carry my shadow. Every number is motivated by a base need. 3’s are afraid of failure and need to succeed. 1’s need to be perfect and fear being wrong. 7’s are afraid of pain. . This insight shocked me. I am bright and fun and playful because I cannot sit with suffering. I cannot accept darkness. I hate having a boss or being a boss because I fear conflict. As a 7, I rationalize pain. I get into my head because my heart is frightened. When refugees suffer and black men are shot unarmed in the street, I study and read and seek to understand the causes and every perspective so I can excuse the brokenness of the world with reasons and sober causes. I cannot mourn because I fear I cannot carry the weight. . It is scary to be so understood, so transparent. But I want to be healthy. The Enneagram helps us all know our shadows and root causes and to befriend them. They say that a healthy 7 carries a ‘sober joy.’ They bring light, but don’t deny the dark. They see the reasons and causes, but sit with the weeping and let them weep. I want to be like that. . I want to dance in the light of day. And hold the hands of the broken. I want to know that I too have brokenness, and that it’s ok to be broken. That the heaviness of the world is not my enemy, but my partner in the dancing. . I want to be healthy. To be balanced. To be whole. My gift is joy. My lesson is hurting. . (Richard Rohr’s book on this is the ultimate) -- source link