Enneagram Fixations
(This article is the first in a series. Articles on each type’s fixation, the passions, the core dynamics, etc., will all be coming soon)
When we are operating from personality—which we do 99% of the time—we do not see the world clearly. Instead, we take everything in through a distorted lens that emphasizes certain things and ignores others. As a result we each have only a narrow understanding of the real world; it’s not necessarily a wrong view, but it is severely limited and inflexible. This habitual way of interpreting our situation is called the Fixation, and each Enneagram Type is connected to a particular Fixation:
Type One: Judgment
Type Two: Relational Thinking
Type Three: Deceit
Type Four: Fantasizing
Type Five: Retention
Type Six: Doubting
Type Seven: Anticipating
Type Eight: Objectifying
Type Nine: Ruminating
Your type’s fixation acts like a set of blinders, narrowing your vision to a small window of possibilities. We are quite literally fixated on seeing the world in a certain way. And, since the fixations are an inherent quality of the personality types, we are fixated pretty much all the time.
To live in this way is obviously limiting. To be fixated is to be less free—so why do we have a fixation at all? Where does it come from, and what sets it in motion? As with the rest of the personality, the fixation arises as a means to deal with reality when we are very young. It is our best guess for what to do as relatively helpless beings confronted with a big, scary world. (Check back soon for more about this in the Core Dynamics article)
More specifically, your type’s fixation is the personality’s attempt to cope with your type’s passion. The passion is the suffering caused by loss of contact with our Essential nature, and it is a loss that we are constantly trying to heal. The personality believes that the fixation is the best way to reconnect with our Essential nature, so that’s what we do. Ironically, however, the fixation is the very thought pattern that keeps the Passion going. The passion and the fixation work in lock-step, each reinforcing the other. We can look at Type One for an example:
Type One’s Passion is Resentment: a painful, seething frustration and sorrow that there is a lack of goodness in the world. To feel this pain directly is intolerable; in fact, to a One, “lack of goodness” is an unacceptable reality. So, the One’s personality steps in and literally tries to bring goodness back into reality. That’s a huge and noble undertaking for a single person—how can it be done? This is where the One’s Fixation of Judgment comes in. If I can divide the world into what’s good and what’s bad, then I can find the good and cultivate it, and I can find the bad and eradicate it. This judgment takes many forms: perfectionism inflicted on myself and others; strong opinions on what leading a virtuous life entails; deciding who is a “good person” and who is a “bad person.” The Personality subtly believes that if I can just do this enough, there will be goodness in life again.
Unfortunately, this is a catch-22, like every single other personality pattern. The very thing I’m doing to try to solve my problem is actually making the problem worse. When I judge, I cut off the object of my judgment—I banish it. And every time I do this, my Resentment intensifies, because that’s one more thing I’m aware of that’s bad. The very act of Judgment is what’s causing me to see the world and myself as lacking goodness.
What I’m really looking for as a One—and as any Type—is to reconnect with my Essential nature. There is a fundamental Goodness in me that, when I’m present enough in my Body, Heart, and Head, I can directly experience. Recognizing my Essential nature as any type requires awareness of my patterns (which is why learning about the fixation is important in the first place), and then practice staying present with it. As soon as I am aware of my Judging—or Doubting, or Ruminating, or anything else—I have a chance to do something different. I can begin to wake up, and start seeing the world more objectively. The blinders start to fade.