Typology

This week we continue with our panel of Fours -- Sandra McCracken, Megan Miller, Matthew Perryman Jones, and Don Chaffer. Tune in as we discuss the strengths and challenges of being a Four, and then stick around to the end when Ian and guests pull some guitars down from the studio walls and spontaneously break into a Dylan tune. It's pretty unforgettable.

For those who are new to the Enneagram or to what life is like as an Enneagram Four, let me just give a 50,000-foot fly-by of the Enneagram Four. Fours, called the Individualists, sometimes called the Romantics or the Tragic Romantics, these are folks who have a sense that they carry within themselves some deficiency--some irredeemable deficiency--a missing piece in their essential makeup that they can't quite name. It actually elicits or brings up in them this kind of inconsolable longing for the un-nameable missing piece that they're trying to find and recover so that they can feel a part of the world. They feel as though they're disqualified from belonging because they're different from other people. And so, this launches them on a lifelong quest, usually early on with the struggling low self-esteem, I've never met a Four who told me that that was not an issue for them.

And their passion, or their deadly sin, is Envy. So, what is it that Fours? Fours envy the normalcy, the happiness, and the apparent ease with which other people seem to move in the world. We just look at other people and think they just haven't suffered as much as we have. We just have this perception that other people have had an easier time of it in this life. And that can sometimes give us a little bit of superiority, almost, because we also become addicted to our suffering if we're not careful. It becomes the core of our identity--the tragic story of the past that we don't know how to divorce ourselves from, and even if we could who would we be without it, without that tragic story? God, we'd be ordinary, which of course points to the underlying motivation of the Four which is a compulsive need to be unique and special as a strategy to compensate for what we perceive to be this irredeemable deficiency.

To best illustrate the ways that Fours are unique, even from each other, I brought in a panel of Fours for this week's show. The thing I love about panels is it's so much better for people to learn about these different types, these archetypes of the Enneagram, straight from the mouths of those who live in the shoes of those different styles of being in the world. Fours are the most misunderstood number on the Enneagram in general. So, tune in as Sandra McCracken, Megan Miller, Matthew Perryman Jones, and Don Chaffer join us in studio to talk about all things Four.

After a knee-jerk reaction of skepticism, Dr. Richard Beck and his wife, Jana, share how the Enneagram has had a profound effect on their family. In today's show, we talk about the disjoint of how we conceive ourselves and how we behave on the ground, how personality and virtue cut across Enneagram types, and the unique contribution of the fluidity of the Enneagram.

Richard Beck, Ph.D. is a research psychologist, professor, and award-winning author. His books include: Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality and Mortality (2011), The Authenticity of Faith: The Varieties and Illusions of Religious Experiences (2012), The Slavery of Death (2013), Reviving Old Scratch: Demons and the Devil for Doubters and the Disenchanted (May 2016), and his newest book, which just released in November, Stranger God: Meeting Jesus in Disguise. To learn more about Richard, visit https://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com or his author page at https://amzn.to/2uKfzEQ.

This week we jump back into our conversation with Paul Young to help nail down his type. Figuring out his type was hard, as it can be for many. But I think Paul has suffered and worked through so many things in his life, he has reached a point where I think he's maybe one of the most integrated nines I've ever known. Also, because of that, he has a mystical quality. When they're healthy, nines are so awake there's a mystical quality to them. I think it becomes tough to figure out their type because they're so attuned and plugged in across all these types, but they're awake.

Paul Young is the author of The Shack (2007), Cross Roads (2012), Eve (2015), and he just released his latest book, Lies we believe about GOD (2017). To learn more about Paul or to check out his books, visit www.wmpaulyoung.com.

This week we jump back into our conversation with Paul Young to help nail down his type.  Figuring out his type was hard, as it can be for many.  But I think Paul has suffered and worked through so many things in his life, he has reached a point where I think he's maybe one of the most integrated nines I've ever known. Also, because of that, he has a mystical quality.  When they're healthy, nines are so awake there's a mystical quality to them. I think it becomes tough to figure out their type because they're so attuned and plugged in across all these types, but they're awake.  

Paul Young is the author of The Shack (2007), Cross Roads (2012), Eve (2015), and he just released his latest book, Lies we believe about GOD (2017). To learn more about Paul or to check out his books, visit www.wmpaulyoung.com.

When learning the Enneagram and figuring out your number, one of the things that complicates the process is trauma and the effect of trauma on personality development and theory. I always say, I think personality, just the defensive nature of the personality thickens on people with trauma. The staircase is steeper that we have to climb.

Our guest in this two-part episode is not sure if he's a 9 or a 7. And so during the show, we actually get into it, we actually help Author Paul Young nail it in the second episode. Paul Young is a human being whose heart and soul are fascinating and are also enriching. I have a special place of affection in my heart for Paul, and I know you're really going to get a lot out of this show.

Paul Young is the author of The Shack (2007), Cross Roads (2012), Eve (2015), and he just released his latest book, Lies we believe about GOD (2017). To learn more about Paul or to check out his books, visit www.wmpaulyoung.com.