This week and next week Christ Heuertz, Enneagram expert and author of “The Sacred Enneagram” joins us! We have the opportunity to talk about what the Enneagram is, and how it can play a part in our lives as creatives, and as humans.
Chris Heuertz Interview: Thoughts, References, Links, & Takeaways
Shows us the contours of the nine masks we can use to hide our true “essence”
The nine masks are labeled as “types” or numbers
IF YOU’RE SKEPTICAL
You have to be ready and open to it
“Most of us don’t know that we don’t know who we [really] are, and we like that; we like staying asleep. We would rather leave things on autopilot than doing the hard work of telling the truth.”
“Not only does [the Enneagram] show you where you might get stuck or spin your wheels, but it shows you what’s beautiful and fabulous and remarkable about each of us.”
The Enneagram is a compassionate sketch of possibilities that says if you say yes to doing your own inner work, it says, ‘look at who you can become!’
Who you are is who you have always been, we’ve just fallen asleep to that.
ON CHILDREN, AND BEING BORN WITH YOUR TYPE
Children go through phases of cycling through the types
They need to experience all of them before they can be “typed”
Bringing your type forward is something you do on your own
Putting a type on your children can be devastating if it isn’t who they are
The best way to “gift” the Enneagram to your children is using it to work on yourself.
If you become the best version of yourself, you’re giving your children permission to become the best version of themselves, whoever they are, and whoever they end up presenting as.
We possess the energies of all nice types but it’s a lifelong journey to find your primary type.
HOW DOES THE ENNEAGRAM FACTOR INTO A CAREER PATH?
The nine types are actually nine different ways of looking at problems to be solved or [which] opportunities to chase down.
Fours want to be seen and practice seeing everything outside of themselves as a projection of that.
They become highly attuned to finding beauty and significance even in the mundane as a way of “suffering” what’s beautiful about me, especially when I don’t feel seen.
Are constantly projecting externally what we don’t think we can do internally. At work, in relationships, etc.
Not all creatives fall into the category of a Four just because they’re “artistic”
Threes bring value while Fours bring significance
Threes know how to enhance value. They think they will be loved through affirmation, which isn’t true.
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST OF KNOWING OTHER PEOPLE’S “TYPES”
Three ways we deal with our Neurosis
Moving Toward: 1’s,2’s,6’s – Dutiful or “Compliant” Social Styles
Compliant to the inner critic, to the “oughts and shoulds”
Moving Against: 7’s 8’s, 3’s – Aggressive or Assertive Social Styles
Demand what they want, in different ways.
Moving Away From: 4’s, 5’s, 9’s – Detached, or Withdrawn Social Styles
Very boundaried, they need their space; often mistype
IF we can identify the social styles, “How do I get what I want?”, it really helps in relationships.
What we want is actually tethered to our intelligence center:
BODY: 8’s, 9’s, 1’s – They want autonomy.
If you’re working with a 9 for example, they will sometimes withdraw because they are really good at tidying up the external and taking care of everyone else, they just don’t want you messing with their world. So they will step back if they feel you’re getting too close.
HEART: 2’s, 3,s, 4’s – They want connection.
If you’re working with a 3 for example, their “side hustle” of inception is really to feel their own heart and they want someone else to help them do that.
HEAD: 5’s, 6’s, 7’s – They want security.
When you combine the Hornevian groups with the Intelligence centers, you get nine unique combinations that don’t replicate themselves around the circle.
EXAMPLE:
1’s – Think they have to “earn” their autonomy
2’s – Think they have to earn the connection that they want
3’s – Quietly “demand” that connection
4’s – Withdraw for that connection
5’s – Withdraw for security
6’s – Earn Security
7’s – Assert themselves for security
8’s – Aggressively moving against for their autonomy
9’s – Withdraw for their autonomy
Second “overlay” for relationships is the Harmonic Groups
One of those is looking at each style as conflict avoidance and reconciling styles.
1’s, 3’s, 5’s – Rational Competency: in a conflict they want to figure it out. Conflict avoidance is minimal.
2’s, 7’s, 9’s – Positive Outlook: “it could be worse” and they really see the world this way.
4’s, 6’s, 8’s – Emotional Realness: Them expressing their feelings doesn’t feel like conflict avoidance to the other types.
To understand this, you have to receive the other person’s style to de-escalate conflict and hear what the other person is saying.
9’s can lose themselves in other types in trying to understand others.
If you can find the dynamics of the energy and movement in the Enneagram, you will see how you “process” through your head, your heart, or your body/instincts.
“The way we do anything is the way we do everything” – Richard Rohr
You have to look at the Enneagram not as buckets, each type gets to reach to the numbers adjacent to it (its wings), two reaches beyond to your heart point or stress point, and there’s a lot going on there.
HOW TO DISCOVER YOUR “TYPE”
Tests can have a bias, even online Enneagram tests
BUT, The Enneagram Institute’s RHETI Test is a good option
If you don’t want to test, find someone who has been working on themselves for a long time and have a conversation with them about how they brought their type forward.
There are people who are trained in “type interviews” that you can find as well.
Attend a group or workshop or training where you can observe the types in person.
Panels can be helpful as an observer.
Read descriptions from a teacher you trust
“The [type] that feels the worst, is probably yours.”
WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE WHO TEST EQUALLY/BORDERLINE ON NUMBERS?
For Example: Brandi’s Husband tested 2, 5, and 8
All of these make sense. These three are the rejection group in the Harmony Triad
Each of these types experienced a kind of “rejection” in their early holding environment, around a protective or nurturing caregiver/parent.
Approach life similarly so these numbers make sense
These three have a natural reach towards eachother. There’s an affinity in that flow.
In the Harmony Triad, 5’s and 2’s have a natural reach as well, it’s one of the invisible lines on the Enneagram
8’s and 2’s also have a natural reach so there’s a flow happening here
One of the expressions of brilliance hidden in the Enneagram is that this flow of reach to the other types is where spirituality can come forward.
5’s are the slowest to type because they need all of the information before they make a decision. All types are a possibility.
They seem to be a little slow or delay
This is also their brilliance. But they are generally right when they decide to share something.
Can have a “stinkeye” towards the Enneagram because there’s no scientific evidence to ascribe credibility to the teaching.
Enneagram can be misinterpreted as a personality test.
It shows more what’s behind the scenes of a personality.
The Enneagram shows something more mysterious and beautiful and existential than any personality test.
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THANK YOU to the ultra-talented Vesperteen (Colin Rigsby) for letting us use his (“Shatter in The Night”) track in every episode of Design Speaks.
