Hello Empowered Wayers!
Today, I talk about one of my favorite subjects - The Enneagram. You may have read about it or heard it mentioned online, but do you know how it can help you?
What is the Enneagram?
It’s an ancient system of nine personality archetypes that identify human motivation and behavior. It has exploded in popularity in recent years, as more people have discovered how useful it is in their own personal development and as a tool to understand others.
Each person on the planet has a core type (one of the nine) that is used to navigate in the world. Each type has strengths, gifts, and blind spots and there are different levels of health.
The beauty of the Enneagram is that it provides a path for growth for each type. As you become more aware of your subconscious patterns of behavior, you begin to make different choices, using the growth path for your type.
Many people become concerned that they are being put in a box once they learn their type. The irony is that learning your type actually does the opposite — it reveals the box you were already in and it shows you the way out.
Learning your type is the first step in a life-long journey of discovery. As stated in “The Wisdom of the Enneagram,” it states that:
The Enneagram invites us to look deeply in the mystery of our true identity. [It] can lead us to a more profound truth about ourselves and our place in the world.
But there’s so much more to discover!
You are so much more than your personality
Your personality developed as you learned to navigate your world. You became adept at hiding or avoiding pain and hurt and you developed strategies to get what you needed. Your ego was born and life became a process of living in the “real” world.
But what if your personality covers up something magnificent and beautiful that you have forgotten?
That is what I discovered when I began using the wisdom of the Enneagram to make sense of me.
I am a Type 4, which is a heart-centered, emotion-based personality that searches for what is missing. As I learned more about my perspective and coping strategies, something magnificent was revealed.
I am not my personality. Instead, I am so much more than how I navigate the world. The impact of this realization is that my essential nature could be seen, expressed, and experienced.
That’s the goal of the Enneagram — to discover that living from your essential self is how we are designed to live. It’s Being Human and knowing that you are whole, perfect, and complete.
The return to wholeness is the journey. The destination is holiness.
How do I learn my type?
There are many free assessments on the Internet, but the one I recommend can be found at EnneagramInstitute.com. Click on “Rheti Test,” pay $12.00, and take the assessment. You will receive a detailed report immediately after you finish.
The report will tell you the primary type, which never changes. You can only have one type but there are different layers and nuances that you learn as you go deeper into the Enneagram.
One of my favorite books is written by Suzanne Stabille, called “The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships.” The author has taught the Enneagram for decades and teaches online workshops and in-person retreats. It’s an easy read and very entertaining.
Here’s to your own journey of self-discovery and enlightenment.
Love & Light,
Kathryn
The Enneagram: Unlocking the Secrets of Self-Awareness