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CB and I got to Albuquerque around noon today. It was a sunny day in the high 50s F. We wandered around Old Town and visited the Pueblo Indian Cultural Center. There were and are 19 Pueblo Indian tribes!
Tonight I registered for the "Laughing and Weeping" conference on the enneagram. I am excited by all the options, especially for New Year's Eve, but am worried that husband CB is waiting each day for me to be "done." I think I'll go to half of the New Year's Eve events, so I can spend the end of the evening with my husband.
I always vacillate about which number of the enneagram I am. . . .which is why I signed up for the pre-conference session tomorrow: "Know Your Number" with Suzanne Stabile.
I waver in my belief in the enneagram system, and I have been won over by Richard Rohr's interest, this conference, and reading Understanding the Enneagram by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson. (Russ Hudson is one of the speakers with Richard Rohr for this week.) We'll see what I think by Saturday afternoon, when we depart.
Here's a quote I really like at the beginning of that book:
"In addition to giving us insight into our day-to-day behaviors, the enneagram offers an answer to our spiritual yearnings because it shows us with great specificity how our personality has limited us, what our path of growth is, and where real fulfillment can be found. It teaches us that the longings and structures of our personality are actually useful guides to the greatest treasures of our soul. By regarding our self-defeating patterns and even our psychological pain and limitations as indicators of our spiritual capacities, we are able to see ourselves in a different light. With this new perspective comes compassion, healing, love, and transformation." (4-5)
Hope it's true.
5 comments:
For the longest time i was SURE i was a 7 on the enneagram. and then one day it became very clear to me that i was actually an 8 - i didn't want to be an 8 - i wanted to be a 7! i told my spiritual director of my discovery and she said "oh dear heart - i've known for years that you are an 8 - i was only waiting for you to discover that for yourself!"
so here is to your discovery this week of what number you are!!!!
I understand your wavering, Jan. For myself, I think things like the enneagram can be enormously helpful so long as we always remember that the human spirit is soooooo much larger and more wondrous than could EVER be captured by a number or a system or anything else.
And I think there is a real danger of reifying the results. I've witnessed many people start to categorize themselves and others, which automatically places them in a box much smaller than they actually are and can be. This hardening also makes it more difficult to see the nuances that the human spirit always carries within it, as well as the inherent capacity for growth and change.
On the other hand, I think that quote at the beginning of the book is right. The enneagram can also widen our horizons of understanding and increase our capacity for acceptance and forgiveness. If we take it with just a grain of salt.
Well, I kinda got carried away there. I hope you and CB have a perfectly FABULOUS time in that beautiful place!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY FRIEND
(I think I'm going to see your friend JT tonight at a dinner party. Looking forward to it.)
I know next to nothing about enneagrams. Perhaps I should look into it. What book would you recommend?
We spent a lot of time on the enneagram at CPE this summer. It was wonderfully helpful. Our supervisor put a lot of emphasis on its circular nature -- no number is better than any other, and each represents both strnegths and weaknesses we cna work with.
Unrepentant three here! I envy you this conference.
I love what Roberta says in her comment... It is at the essence of the enneagram for me, only you can find who you really are.
And finding that usually makes one want to flee!
I love the ennegram and it has been a gift in my life, first given to me via Richard Rohr, since 1990.
I really can't wait to hear about your experiences at the conference!
With new year's love and good wishes from your favorite (LOL) 4!
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