Asher Hebert

Nine references the personality style of the Peacemaker, according to the Enneagram theory of personality. After some time of self reflection and retesting, I came to most identify with Enneagram number 9, typified as a Peacemaker. However, this song by Sleeping at Last was not easy for me to connect to. Maybe that is typical for this personality type, but I found it to be a niggling doubt that was uncomfortable and lingering. For a supposed peacemaker, it felt like a test. Perhaps I don’t really know myself. Can a peacemaker make peace with himself, his imperfections, his doubts?

I don't put too much stock into personality tests; but to me, they are not only fun and interactive, they are windows to some amount of truth. They never tell the whole story of a person's experience, their trials and tests, their triumphs and truths. But truth can be found in the most inconspicuous of places, if I can take the time and give the attention to find it. And in that process, maybe there are moments where a domino misses the next one and I need to find a nudge to tip the scales and set off another cascade of dominos.

I've always had to look hard to find my own truth. I introspect, I write, I look to the responses of others to see myself. Some truths are absolute, but others change as people do. And as imperfect as my aim can be, I will at least point in the direction something solid. Only something sturdy enough to set my pieces on top of can be used to examine and support each piece of philosophy and worldview. In this way there is peace. Peace within myself, peace with others, a rightness of being. This happens by starting with something solid, something that doesn’t change as people do, something that lasts through time and place and perspective. And then together we build.