My journey of self-awareness led me to undertake some fundamental groundwork on understanding the ego and personal-level authenticity. I came across the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator, explained in Robert Holden’s five week online training course Coaching Authentic Success. The Enneagram provides 9 distinctive yet interconnected personality patterns, which can be identified by their distinct strengths and challenges. The first three Personality types of a persons represent their distinctive values and behaviours.
My first personality was Type 9 The Peacemaker. The strengths of the Peacemaker include good mediation, diplomacy, building consensus, inclusion and keeping emotionally calm. My values are to create a space where all opinions are shared, heard and included, which includes my own. The first line I speak in my work Sermon – On the seventh beatitude is:
- Upon this pulpit I’m here to be seen. Yet my real challenge now in life is to lose my self-image
My challenges for this personality are that I require time to understand my emotions about something and to do this I requires a clear understanding and explanation before making a decision. I prefer to keep the peace, so therefore holding onto anger in the subconscious can manifest as an act of passive aggression.
The advice for this personality type os “Learn how to include yourself without waiting to be invited”. Explain to someone if there is something bothering you, before it builds up.
My second Type is 5 The Investigator which strengths include: Intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for knowledge and ideas. The pitfalls to this can be “when I know enough then I can be successful”.
I’m exploring the philosophy and wisdom of the Enneagram within my art-work. It provides a map to who we are when we’re the most psychologically healthy. My aim is to create a more authentic dialogue which navigates the pitfalls of the ego, to support a way of living in harmony with ourselves, each other and the world.
