The Seven Year Itch

So every time I watch a movie, I end up spending a fair amount of time dissecting their character in terms of the enneagram. Too many times do I find myself surfing google for certain character numbers, but I hardly ever find anything useful. Anyways, I figure whenever I watch a movie, I'll just write it all down instead. 

This afternoon, I had the unpleasant experience of The Seven Year Itch. This is just my opinion, and I know it is famous and critically acclaimed. Whatever. 

The main character, Richard Sherman, I think is a 6 with a 7 wing, leaning toward a counter-phobic one at that. The wing is a bit tough, but I'll go with 7 for now, since his impulsivity is often and uncontrolled. His paranoia is off the charts and imagination for all the possibilities of what could go wrong almost unbelievable. He is constantly of two minds about EVERYTHING. He will agree to something joyfully and moments later be scorning it. It is amusing to watch mostly because I think of the enneagram. Though, in the beginning of the movie, I had not been so sure of what he was, with his daydreams and exaggerations. But, I am almost positive he is a counter-phobic 6. Even at the end, when he punches the poor man trying to help him, it is out of fear and jealousy, but then moments later tells "the girl" that they are good friends. Psychotic really. 

That leads me to "The Girl." Marilyn. Ah. I would say most likely a 7. She seems to want a bit of everything and doesn't spend too much time with any of it. She even expresses her desire to be unattached. I would definitely say a 7 with an 8 wing, as she doesn't have the slightest hint of fear about anything, nor commitment. as per usual with Marilyn, she acts as though she doesn't understand how she acts is wrong, and does what she wants whether society deems it all right or not. She just goes place to place, never really being bothered by anything. Not even bothered by a married man attempting to kiss her. She is whatever about everything.

Introduction.

I discovered the enneagram several years ago through a good friend who had discovered it through his mentor.  It automatically caught my attention just by being a personality tests. They always fascinated me. When i first read about it, I had ideas of what "number" I was, and honestly, what number I wanted to be.  However, I did not get the number I wanted to be.  Nor the one I thought I was.  Instead, I began realizing the habits and views I had somehow become accustomed to.


I loved talking about it. But even more so, I was part of a church group that actually utilized it with college age kids to help them stop their bad habits and one way of thinking as soon as possible. On top of this, it was paired with Jesus.


Jesus + The Enneagram is a way to realize your broken-ness as a human and fast.  This can be a great thing or a very dangerous thing.  Too often I have heard, "Oh, well I'm this number, so that's what I do." Yes, it is great that you see that, truly it is, but please do something about it as well. To know your flaws and shortcomings and sit there and say it's because of my personality is a poor excuse.  Perhaps worse than not knowing them at all. I listened to a song called, "the shadow proves the sunshine." Sounds pretty corny in writing, but the idea is right. the light shows the darkness. In the light of Christ, our darknesses are revealed. When you are in the darkness they are unknown to us, or we cannot distinguish them properly, but in the light and the truth of Christ, they are clear.  So, if that is what the power of Christ does, then imagine if we had a tool to tell us exactly what we do wrong as well. A tool that also helped us understand why a person acts the way they do; how we act might offend certain people and others it might not. A tool that not only shows us our fears and worries but also our greatest strengths.  Science and magic are working together.


It sounds so easy in writing.  I know it is hard. But I thought I'd just get that all out of the way for now.