scijessreads

My Instagram bio has in it that I am an introverted Enneagram 5 Capricorn. Which, depending on how you view things like the Enneagram and astrology, may not mean much. And I generally take things like this with a huge grain of salt. However, a lot of my personality traits and motivations, and actions align with the “common consensus” descriptions of these three things.

Introverted

People drain my emotional and mental battery quickly. I recharge best alone and not surrounded by activity and others. I can be temporarily personable and interact with groups, but in large crowds, I look for the corners (or the nearest dog). Huge volumes of people make me want to leave and find quiet. So, things like fairs and amusement parks, and crowded cities… not my jam. I very much would rather live like an almost-hermit, with small excursions to be around manageable groups of people I like for short periods of time. Which kind of amazes me that I made it a career as an educator and am around people and talking to classrooms most days. It just means that when I get home, I am HOME. I don’t want to be around people by the end of the day.

However, this doesn’t mean being completely alone is ideal, either. To those that I enjoy spending time with – friends – I am loyal and will drop everything to be there and spend quality time.

Enneagram 5

The core motivation for an Enneagram 5 is to be competent. They want knowledge and to understand how things work. Being that I am a scientist at heart, and spent years doing exactly that – asking “Why?” and “How?” as I did research, this rings very true. Even before then, though, I always was a curious person. I never liked getting answers that were along the lines of “just because it is.” There is always more to the story, more to learn. I think this also ties into my habit of being very quiet, observing and ingesting everything before making any decisions or outward suggestions. I am not quick to answer just to hear the sound of my own voice. I take my time with things.

Capricorn

Really, a lot of Capricorn traits align with the Enneagram 5 thing, and maybe a little bit of the introvert thing. Capricorns are often considered ambitious, driven by material desires, and realistic. Some of these things are definitely not as strong in me compared to some (yes, I want to have things, but am not only driven by that). I am stubborn, but I am also not so stuck in my own opinions that I can’t be changed. Maybe that is the scientist in me being open to the idea that we really know nothing at all in the grand scheme of things. However, I can be very closed off until I get to know someone, but once I do I am loyal to a fault.

Suffice it to say, I can see myself in many parts of these three ways to view one’s personality and characteristics. Maybe that is why I am drawn to reading and spending time alone with books. Maybe that is why I love science and teaching and learning since I am always open to acquiring knowledge and skills. Maybe it all means nothing, but I can’t help but think that at least knowing some operational parameters for how I see life at least lets me know where I am OK, and where I might want to branch out a bit to see if I can find new facets of myself. It’s a process, this living of life.