Storytelling

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Dear Holly: You are an Enneagram 2W3 (Helper/Achiever)

6 years, 4 months.

Dear Holly,

We’re now a few months into me determining that you are officially an Enneagram 2- “The Helper” personality.

This past week, one particular event stood out to back this up.

Thanks to many family members across the USA, you did very well in selling magazine subscriptions as a fundraiser for your school. (That shows your dominant “3 wing- The Achiever”.)

So you got a keychain as a prize for each one sold.

But on the bus ride home from school that day, some older kids saw how many you had and asked if they could all have one.

Reluctantly, you said yes; confused, thinking they were asking to see the prizes, not keep them. But you indeed at given away three of your prizes to kids you didn’t even know.

You kept from crying, long enough to make it off the bus.

Mommy took care of you, though. She explained to your teacher what happened, so you got reimbursed the next day with new prizes.

You are a helper, and an achiever; as this story clearly demonstrates.

And as your Daddy, part of my job is to make sure you don’t help others to the point that you neglect yourself in the process.

Mommy and I are both Enneagram 6s, so we are most motivated to provide security for those we love.

You are so kind and giving- and so easy to love!

That happens to be a trait about people who are Enneagram 2- they never make you wonder if they love you.

Love,

Daddy

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1st Annual Great Smoky Mountains Father-Son Jeep Trip 2022

This Labor Day Weekend, my dad and I decided to take my Jeep across the Foothills Parkway in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

If I was an Enneagram 3, I would have been stressed out by trying to cram in the nearly dozen items I planned for our itinerary. Instead, I am an Enneagram 6; meaning I overplanned and overprepared, but I am happy to just accomplish some of the tasks on the list.

So we ended up doing 3 of the 11 items: We found and drove across the entire Foothills Parkway. We stopped for dinner at a true German restaurant. And we stayed overnight in an RV.

It’s important to my wife that we stay in a nice place anytime we travel. But personally, I’d be happy staying at a Motel 6.

Even though she wasn’t even going on the trip, she talked me into staying an an Airbnb RV; since it was the same price as the cheapest motel she could find.

It’s funny because I had just recently looked back on the lyrics to a song I wrote 4 years ago, called “Fort Payne, Alabama“, which sort of predicted this:

“If you called me Mother Nature’s son, I’d take it as a compliment – I’d trade a Lexus for an RV, a mansion for a tent.”

I’ve accepted that in life, things seldom work out the way you plan them. So you plan ahead- and then you just wing it, when it doesn’t go as planned.

Clearly, that is evidenced by the fact we didn’t get around to visiting the majority of the stops on our trip; including Top of the World, Tennessee.

But fundamentally, the only thing that mattered is that we had a fun adventure together. And that’s exactly what we did.

I suppose for next year, we shall try again to find and visit the mysterious town of Top of the World, Tennessee.

It had served as the reference point for us finding the very elusive start of the Foothills Parkway.

Plenty more left to explore based on this year’s agenda!

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Dear Jack: Our New Family Tradition of Saturday Morning Breakfast

11 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

I pay a lot of attention to our family dynamics… and I plan our activities accordingly. Sometimes, it’s me taking you and your sister birthday parties, without Mommy. Other times, it’s Mommy taking you both to the zoo, without me.

Similarly, I also look for ways to spend one-on-one time with both you and your sister throughout the week.

But I noticed that for much of the time the four of us are together as a family, it’s in either boring or stressful situations; like trying to get through homework and dinner on a busy school night, or rushing to get to church on time.

Therefore, we are now 3 weeks in for the new tradition I started for us: “Saturday Morning Family Breakfast.”

I now clean all the bathrooms and take care of all the garbage on Friday mornings before work, so that on Saturday mornings, we can all just casually wake up and head to a fun nearby restaurant for breakfast as a family. No stress about having to clean the house when we wake up anymore!

We go to places that have a good family atmosphere where we can enjoy a solid breakfast, but not feel rushed- like the nearby Grecian Bakery or any of the local coffee shops.

Saturday Morning Family Breakfast is a hit!

 

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Cake for Breakfast on Saturday Mornings?!

6 years, 4 months.

Dear Holly,

This morning I took you for a 7 AM dentist appointment… just your typical check-up and teeth cleaning.

Good news: No cavities!

I told your dentist that I take part of the credit for that because of how thoroughly I brush your teeth every night.

And of course, I have to do a good job scrubbing your teeth:

Mommy always lets you have a “treat” after dinner… which may or may not be leftover Halloween candy from last year. That’s not my department, so I really don’t know for sure…

But I definitely contribute to your sugar intake on Saturday mornings now, since I recently initiated “Saturday Morning Family Breakfast” at 8:30 AM every Saturday.

I choose a fun nearby place to go eat a fun breakfast- and then we start off the weekend right as a family!

Last weekend, we returned to Grecian Pizzeria; which happens to have their own bakery.

The week before, you ordered French Toast, which you loved… But to me, sugar is sugar.

Therefore, this past Saturday, you enjoyed Mint Chocolate cake for breakfast!

Love,

Daddy

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“(Subtitles) I Dare You Not to Fall in Love with Me” – Song 6 – Enneagram 6 Songwriter – Analyzing Lyrics – Themes of Belonging and Security

My 6th song was another one of the four that my wife sang with me. Recorded on November 19th, 2019, I wrote this song as a true duet; which serves as a real-time breakdown of the day we met; on October 5th, 2006.

The lyrics go back and forth between my perspective and my wife’s. It’s rare that I write a “love song”, but this is about as close as it gets to that for me.

It just so happens that both my wife and I happen to be Enneagram 6. Perhaps that’s part of the mutual attraction we saw in each other when we first met, and still experience now, having been married 14 years.

The concept: We saw “stability and security” in each other.

Since Enneagram 6s are known for being overthinkers, I wrote this concept into the song, as the back-and-forth between us addresses what we are both individually thinking. Here are the lyrics:

“Hey pretty girl, whatcha doing the rest of your life? Say the next 50 years or so, starting tonight? I’ll give you the next 5 minutes, all or nothing – When I saw you across the room, you had it coming – This could be interesting, maybe not what I was expecting – I dare you not to fall in love with me – You can’t read my mind right now, you don’t know what I’m thinking – You can’t translate what I say without subtitles at the bottom of the screen – I dare you not to fall in love with me  -Tell me, Mr. Man, what are your plans? Can you charm me, disalarm me, make me laugh? If I couldn’t would you still be standing here? You’re not giving up, that’s pretty clear”

So looking back on this song I wrote nearly 4 years ago, can you see the Enneagram 6? Can you see my longing for security and confirmation of my own existence?

Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

And now you can listen to the song, below, if you wish: