I once had a friend who, when I asked her what her religious beliefs were, said ennegrams. She also said, with a shrug of one shoulder, she once attended the seminar (induction into) for Lifespring. In general, if you had to run a quote under her picture that typified her, it would be "No Bullshit. Just get it done." She was (and probably still is) one of the most productive people I've ever met. But that also meant that she would cut you short when you need to talk. Single-minded. Focused. Busy. Selfish. People always said she was "such a personality" because of her positivity.
I read a book about ennegrams and decided the 9 personality types were simplistic. I thought that she was probably into it because she felt that knowing what type of person someone was would help her communicate with them the best way. She had the tendency to blurt whatever came into her mind, child-like, and had been offensive in general and had personally hurt my feelings more than once with the blurting. Maybe she knew it.
I couldn't decide which ennegrams best fit her or myself.
As for Lifespring. Well, here is an explanation from Wikipedia...
The training consisted of a series of lectures and experiential processes designed to show the participants a new way of contending with life situations and concerns and how other possible explanations and interpretations may lead to different results. Some individuals complained that they felt harangued, embarrassed, or humiliated by the trainer during the training. A few individuals chose not to complete the training. Additionally, the trainer used many English words in a manner different from their usual meaning. "Commitment", for instance, was defined as "the willingness to do whatever it takes". "Conclusion" was defined as a belief. Also, words such as "responsibility", "space", "surrender", "experience", "trust", "consideration", "unreasonable", "righteous", "totally participate", "from your head", "openness", "letting go" were redefined or used so as to assign them a more specific meaning. "Stretch" was an activity that was outside the participant's comfort zone. During the advanced course the participants were sometimes sent out to perform certain tasks. If any participant did not complete their task the group was considered in "breakdown," ...(How's that for a 'reveal' of applying new meanings and uses for words? I hope that the following words, being misused in the media, will be rescued; Deep Dive, Push Back, Down the Rabbit Hole. If you use these try Research, experiencing opposition or conflict, and Explore.)
Ennegrams and Lifespring : Seems to me the point was to change your thinking and that such programs were about Self Actualization - an aspect of the whole New Age Movement in which instead of having a relationship with God and depending on Him , his Will, his Design for your Fate, a person dared to decide what they wanted for themselves and who they were and then strove to get just that. Such people in the past were burned as witches.
Ah, who was it that said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making plans." ? or " That's Life." or "Go with the flow?"
It seems to me that some people are better at applying the "Just do it" philosophy and most of them have no patience for others who have life happening to them or who experience life as it happens.
It seems to me that over time I've encountered many philosophies and religions, ways to encounter life, as well as ways to create - actualize - ones needs and desires - often as an encounter with other people who are trying on this or that. It seems to me that this search for a way to live life better is part of being in a rapidly changing world in which it's not always easy or possible to get your footing before you can dance. Self help books - especially about finding the Right One, dating, and relationships; who has not been tempted to write one?
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Positive thinking - which I tried earnestly at one point - brought me to the conclusion that I'd run smack into the Cement Wall of Denial.
It also seems to me that there are a lot of "thought" emphasis programs - Scientology being one of these - in which emotions are to be done away with - denied, discounted, eliminated. In these philosophies of how to best succeed in life on earth (and in space) we are supposed to rid ourselves of the essential humanness of feeling.
I recall another of my friends, years ago saying, also with a shrug, "Who knows what's really true?" and "Do whatever you want."
We're supposed to be All Brain and No Heart. That in itself is an imbalance. So profound is the influence of these thought process religions, I dare say that few humans alive in California (I want to avoid saying "on earth") have not encountered the notion. We were to be the precursors of AI.
Emotions, particularly ones that are "negative' or 'difficult' are to be eliminated. Even being happy is thought to be about one's thinking rather than what one is feeling.
I encountered a couple pre-Simpson's cartoon books by Matt Groening, the creator of the Simpsons cartoon. Square and thin, to fit in with record albums in cardboard covers, one called Love is Hell and another Work is Hell. I thought these were funny. I bought them and then passed them along to friends, who also got a howl.
In Love is Hell I encountered the nine (or was that twelve?) types of girlfriends. Like I had when trying to decide which ennegrams fit me best, I tried to decide which of the types of girlfriends typified me. I decided it was between the two in the title of this post. I was, at the time, some part the girlfriend who said something like "To show how much I love you, I will do this dance interpretation on the lawn" and Miss (make that Ms.) Vaguely DIssatisfied, who said something like "I don't know, should I change my hair color?" (I never changed my hair color. I did try to bring back my childhood blonde at one point, after all that had been all mine.).
Today I learned there's was (is?) club for those who could relate with Ms. Vaguely Dissatisfied harkening back to 2017. A Matt Groening cartoon inspired club. The rights to the cartoon belong to Matt and coming from Tumblr the Life is Hell archives, here is the induction:
No Problems? No Problems? We still love you!
C 2023 Writing by Christine Trzyna
Cartoon C Matt Groening - Found in Google Images
