Who’s that in the mirror?
This weekend I attended an Enneagram workshop - in a nutshell there are 9 personality types that we are born with, and from childhood wounds these become cemented into our psyche and become either healthy or seriously unhealthy. It was an eye-opening experience, the most profound for me (except for finally identifying the voice(s) in my head) was truly seeing how unbelievably different we all are.
We go through life believing that other people see life as we do, think, act, feel as we do. And the truth is that we don’t, not even close.
It will be a great tool in terms of relationship management both at home and at work, but apart from these practical benefits I’ve gained, I’m beginning to loose hope in humanities eventual enlightenment. Not only do we plow through racial, cultural and religious differences, which we haven’t yet managed to get right, now there is an entire new layer that must be navigated as well.
Imagine that I believed the sky was green, and you believed it was purple. 2 totally different realities but both equally correct – and there are nine of them! No wonder parents get it so wrong, no wonder lovers fight as they do – where’s the bloody handbook!
If nothing else I have gained a new healthy respect for the term ‘diversity’. Quantum theory of parallel universes isn’t so out there, it’s right here on Planet Earth. Billions of people communicating and living with one another and all separated into 9 distinct groups wondering “what the hell is everyone else on about?”
I strongly suggest you read up about the Enneagram… lots to ponder
