Anything that we do in order to, leaves us feeling empty and unsatisfied. Everything that we do as an expression of, leaves us full and satisfied.”

These were the words that spoke out of my mouth  during the most recent FIRE OF Wholeness Weekend.  They feel true and obvious to me.

Several weeks  have past and its now Celebration Sunday, our completion to a powerful 30 day journey transformational process. People are sharing their Essence Scrolls with one another and I was surprised  that several participants picked the above quote as a favorite quote to remind them of Essence.

So here’s my brief commentary.

What is meant here  by  in order to ?   Anything that our fear/survival  based ego does in order to protect ourselves from looking bad or to gain recognition is… in order to. Bottom line, there’s an agenda.

What is meant by an expression of’ ?   An expression of what?  Essence.  This is an expression of something deeper than the personality, what  many call the soul and I refer to as Essence.  Anything that arises from the depth of our Being with no agenda other than the delight of sharing this expression of life as a means to an end in itself is …an expression of . Bottom line, no agenda only love.

These “expressions of ” may be deeply personal to us, yet if we pay close attention,  our original inspiration feels more universal than personal.  When we express from essence, there’s often a kind of deep recognition of object of our expression, is congruent and its always in the present moment.

Whether the inspiration is to create a great piece of  art or to simply say the words;  “I love you” ;  a poem, song or even a deep cry;  the decision to start a new business, or the words;  “Will you marry me, all can come  form the ego’s in order to or an expression of Essence.

In Wholeness, Michael

I just finished giving a presentation on how Enneagram work can assist us in moving from fear based ego to liberated Wholeness to Laina Orlando’s Center for Awareness book club. I promised to post more info on this potentially trans formative work. If you are not aware of  this work, I highly recommend it. You can discover your type by taking the free sampler test on my site at mcSOULutions.com

Here it is:

Are you familiar with the Enneagram? It is one of the most profound transformational tools available to assist us in uncovering our deepest motivations and fears that lie at the core of our ego personality or “false self” and transcend to Essence or the “true self”. It’s a psycho-spiritual tool that provides much more than personality profile.

What is it exactly? The Enneagram is a geometric symbol that maps the nine fundamental personality types of human nature as well as the very complex interrelationships between the various types. Every one is a mix of these fundamental types, although one type, in particular, is your “home base” or the best description of your personality as a whole. Knowing your Enneagram type is extremely valuable in bringing instant awareness of your ego’s core fears and desires and a direct path towards Essence.

Here’s how it works: Each Enneagram type has a core fear, core desire, favorite strategy or vice, as well as a principle virtue. The more your ego engages in vice to avoid fear and gain its desire, although providing temporary relief, ultimately brings a person closer to their core fear. The more you determine to be present with your fear and engage your virtue, the closer you come to your core desire. Your ego tends to choose a quick fix resulting in a protecting or grasping strategy. This is either inflating or deflating and always causes separation. The virtue is always grounded in love and wholeness and therefore, brings an individual closer to their Essence.

Within the nine types, three are more body-centered (8, 9 &1), three are more heart-centered (2, 3 & 4) and three are more mind-centered (5, 6 & 7). What does this mean? Both your greatest strengths as well as your favorite defense strategies originate from your particular center.

Here is a personal example from my life: My ego’s personality type is Seven, the Enthusiast, Epicure or Adventurer. My personality center is the mind. Through the mind, when I’m at my best (integrated), I’m able to think quickly, provide insight and ingenuity and offer creative and practical solutions to solve problems. Through this same mind, when at my worst (un-integrated) I can allow charm to replace substance, allow ideas to distract me from the real work that needs to be done and let my spontaneity, playfulness and head-in-the-clouds interfere with keeping commitments. It is hard to admit these things. Yet, I’ve learned that either we I own our “shadow” or our shadow owns us. I most humbly choose the former.

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