This piece on the Enneagram varieties of the March sisters is sponsored by The Summer season of Sunshine & Margot by Susan Mallery.
Twin sisters Sunshine and Margot are as totally different as chalk and cheese, however what they do have in frequent is an entire lack of luck in relation to love. Emotionally stunted by a mom who dropped the whole lot to comply with boyfriend after boyfriend, the sisters have ever solely had one another for help and to share a pint of post-heartache ice cream. When Margot, an etiquette specialist, is employed to work with Bianca, an icon from Hollywood’s Golden Age with romantic entanglements of her personal, she and Sunshine develop into the daughters she by no means had, and their friendship teaches them learn how to embrace the quirks that make them distinctive, and learn how to demand the love they deserve simply as they’re.
I learn Little Girls, oh, about 10,000 instances earlier than I turned 13. It was my lodestar guide. Louisa Might Alcott taught me learn how to view the world and gave me 4 sisters to look as much as. I used to be in a position to maintain my hopes and goals towards these of the March sisters and see how I measured up. Was I mild Beth? Adventurous Jo? Caretaker Meg? Or dramatic Amy? I used to be in a position to watch them work together and check out them every on and see how I’d prefer to develop up. They had been type of my model of a “Which Hogwarts Home Do You Belong To?” quiz earlier than anybody was writing them.
Quick-forward 20 years or so, and I’ve a brand new character check obsession: the Enneagram. As a real Enneagram-obsessive, I positively assume it’s extra helpful and extra…actual? than a Buzzfeed quiz, however I do strive to not take it fairly so significantly.
So what’s the Enneagram? It’s a system of understanding your self and the folks round you. It breaks folks down into 9 sorts, organized in a one thing that appears loads like a pentagram, however with 9 factors. (A nine-pointed star known as an enneagram , which is the place the title comes from, one thing I simply discovered for you and which I actually ought to have recognized earlier than right this moment, contemplating I’ve learn, like, a number of books on the subject.)
Some folks don’t just like the Enneagram as a result of they assume it places folks into bins, however I’ve discovered that it nearly does the other. It lets me have a fuller understanding of individuals, and helps me be extra gracious when earlier than I may need been irritated or pissed off. I’ve spent a variety of time speaking to each my sisters in regards to the Enneagram, and whereas they is likely to be sick to loss of life of it, it’s additionally helped me perceive them higher. (For extra info on the Enneagram, The Enneagram Institute is a superb place to start out. I’ll be working from their definitions.)
Which is why I can’t consider a greater option to have a good time Sisters Day on Ebook Riot than to determine the Enneagram varieties of the second most vital sisters in my life, the March sisters.
Meg: Kind One (The Reformer)
“The Rational, Idealistic Kind: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Managed, and Perfectionistic”
It is likely to be a little bit of a stereotype to make oldest siblings all into sort ones, however this description matches Meg to a T. She is all the time striving to be good, striving to achieve a super that she will by no means attain. She’s the primary sister to decide to studying Pilgrims Progress on daily basis to set an instance for her sisters, and when she units up housekeeping after her marriage ceremony, she has visions of an ideal family. When she is at her healthiest, she is up for adventures and scrapes similar to the remainder of the March women (in Enneagram language, she goes to Seven in well being), however when issues aren’t going nicely, like when her jams explode and her husband brings dwelling a colleague or her sisters burn off her hair (!!), she sinks into despair (goes to a four in stress).
Jo: Kind Seven (The Fanatic)
“The Busy, Selection-In search of Kind: Spontaneous, Versatile, Acquisitive, and Scattered”
I believe everybody who reads Little Girls desires to be Jo, myself included. Who doesn’t wish to be the star of the present, the adventurous one who’s all the time dreaming of the subsequent factor? When Jo is pissed off, she is judgmental of these round her and bored of her life. She strikes to an entire new metropolis to keep away from the ache of a breakup. However when she’s at her greatest, she’s the spirit behind all 4 sisters, the driving pressure behind all their video games. Jo goes to a 5 when she’s rising, which helps her harness her inventive vitality into her writing. She’s not a list-maker, however she is a self-starter who will get issues achieved.
Beth: Kind Two (The Helper)
“The Caring, Interpersonal Kind: Beneficiant, Demonstrative, Individuals-Pleasing, and Possessive”
Oh Beth. Candy Beth, who nurtured her sisters, her kittens, and her dolls with the identical intense love and affection. She gave of herself to a fault, visiting the Hummels alone and contracting the sickness that (spoiler alert) finally ends her life. At her greatest, she’s the center of the household, coaxing music out of their outdated piano and soothing everybody round her. I hate to even say something about her worst, however even Beth fought her personal quiet demons, wishing for greater than she may have and feeling pissed off and alone when her sisters left their little nest.
Amy: Kind 4 (The Individualist)
“The Delicate, Introspective Kind: Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental”
Amy has gotten a variety of flack through the years. She’s the egocentric one, the one who burns her sister’s manuscript in retaliation over a small offense. She’s been defended admirably on this web site, which I took as a consolation as a result of I’ve all the time secretly recognized with this dramatic little sister. Positive, I wished to be Jo, however my goals had been all the time rather less “take to the ocean and avenge the pirates” and a bit of extra “take to the museum so we are able to take a look at artwork and discuss our emotions.” So, after I realized that we’re each fours, issues began to click on into place. Sure, Amy might be all of the issues everybody says, however she’s additionally a gifted, delicate artist who works exhausting to enhance herself. When she matures and realizes that she’ll by no means have the expertise to “make it” as an artist, she turns into a patron, growing her daughter’s expertise and supporting Jo’s college students. At her worst, she’s over-dramatic and manipulative (goes to Two in stress), however at her greatest she’s righteous and useful, like a One.
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