Enneagrams

So you all know Myers-Briggs, and some of you know the four temperaments with regards to personality.  But have you ever looked into the Enneagram personality types? I didn't know too much about them until Arwen pointed them out on twitter maybe a year or two ago. Lately, I've been fascinated with them because, well, it seems there is so much to them.  After taking the test, if you look up the information for your particular enneagram, you can see how different personality types function at different capacities.  For instance, how your personality type can be functioning at its highest if you are taking care of yourself, or if you see some of the not so good behaviors of the lower functioning scale of a type, and what you can do about it to help you function on a higher scale. I feel like this plays into a bit of the your strengths can also become your weaknesses if used wrongly.

In the enneagram, you have a dominant personality type and then a wing.  The wing is something that you have characteristics of, but aren't fully of that type.  So they will list a personality of 3w4.  The 3 is the dominant personality and the 4 the wing type. The way they have it set up, you can either be a on the left or the right of your dominant personality for your wing type. I'm sure there is even more data behind why each personality is numbered as so, I mean my friend just told me there is a whole conference on it too.  Wouldn't that be awesome to go to?

I wrote last time that I was seeing myself change with regards to I and E with respect to Myers Briggs. When I take the enneagram test at this time in life, I am a type 2 with a wing 1. I do feel like I have a lot of 2 qualities, especially in motherhood, however, the test tells you distinctly that if you are a mother of small children, you are more likely to be a 2 even if you would normally be another type.  However, I think that just goes along with the whole we evolve a bit into what our circumstances are.  I sometimes think, prior to having kids, I would have more likely been a 1 with maybe a 2 wing, so I guess the reverse of what I am now. I wonder if motherhood has softened me and that is why I am feeling like myself is changing a bit.

So here are some links to Enneagram information
Tests to see what your type and wing are: Personality Tests
How the Enneagram System Works: Enneagram Institute 

Happy Enneagramming!