The Peacemaker

Recently I’ve been awakened to the Enneagram. It’s a personality tool that has 9 different types (1 through 9) and I am a type 9, The Peacemaker.

Nines want to create harmony in their environment, to avoid conflicts and tension, to preserve things as they are, to resist whatever would upset or disturb them. Now obviously not all nines are exactly the same, and even though they may have the same motivation or avoidance, they are still operating at different levels of healthiness and have different backgrounds and situations they are in.

The 9 is at the top of the enneagram symbol which is indicative because “Nines can have the strength of Eights, the sense of fun and adventure of Sevens, the dutifulness of Sixes, the intellectualism of Fives, the creativity of Fours, the attractiveness of Threes, the generosity of Twos, and the idealism of Ones. However, what they generally do not have is a sense of really inhabiting themselves—a strong sense of their own identity.”

Ugh way harsh Tai.

When I first learned about my type and my coping mechanisms and greatest sin, I just hated it. I hated that I am a 9. It sounded like the worst person that anyone could be, and that every other type probably thought the same thing. And by thinking those thoughts, there can be no doubt as to whether I’m a 9. The 9 thinks of themselves as “nothing special”. We tend to purposefully fade ourselves into the background because we feel that we really don’t have anything to contribute or anything we’re special at.

Over time and through reading about my type and others types in numerous resources, I’ve come to accept my type and who I am (not fully though, it still really bothers me). I am the way I am because of a myriad of things, but there is no going back. So I just keep trying to move forward and become a more healthy version of myself.

There is so much more that makes up the 9 and I’ll probably post more about that another time. I really encourage you to find out what type you are and do some reading on it. Here is a link to where you can take a test to find out what you are. Sometimes it’s not that simple though. I have friends that have taken the test and came out as one thing and then realized they were another. Or others still who aren’t quite sure which type they are. For whatever reason it was really easy for me to know which type I am. Anyway, if you’re interested you should check out this book. I’ve read and re-read over and over the type 9 description. It really is awesome. Or this book which I haven’t read but I’m pretty sure is also awesome.

Do any of you know which type you are? I’d love to know if you’d be willing to share!