The Peacemaker

“Remembering Who You Are” is my final piece in my Enneagram series, and it is my representation of the Enneagram Nine. Nines are known as the Peacemakers, and they long for harmony, balance, and stability. They tend to avoid conflict, and they are known to have a difficult time making decisions. I wanted to address these tendencies in my piece, and I also wanted to express to Nines that their opinions are valued.

I decided to create this piece digitally because with the medium of digital art I was able to maintain structure, balance, and peace by eliminating the possibilities of mistakes that can be made or imperfections that can be caused by using a more hands on medium. Nine is actually the last piece that I completed, and in true Nine fashion, I couldn’t decide where to start. I had these two ideas that I couldn’t break away from, but I was struggling to decide and to come up with a way to combine them.

The first idea was based on the fact that Nines are known to be the archetype of the Enneagram structure, meaning that they embody aspects of all the other eight types. They are also known to minimize themselves in order to maintain peace and harmony. I wanted to emphasize this idea by having eight different rectangles leading to a final rectangle in the center that would represent the Nine. Each rectangle would be the color that represents each type, and the center would be pink because pink represents the Nine’s tendency to mellow themselves out and fade into what others want to do instead of voicing their own opinions. The second idea expanded on the thought of Nines always being stuck in the middle or feeling torn between decisions or other opinions. I wanted to have two different sides and a big rip in the center to put emphasis on this torn feeling. I finally decided that I couldn’t decide, and I found a way to combine my ideas.

In my piece, you will see these eight different rectangles that I have mentioned, and I split them in half and reversed the colors to show all the different areas where Nines minimize themselves and remain indecisive when a decision needs to be made. You will also see this huge, pink rip across the entire piece. As I mentioned, this represents the torn feeling that Nines experience, but it also represents when Nines are finally able to tear through their walls and speak up.

I chose the lyric “remembering who you are” from the Sleeping At Last Song, Nine, in hope that Nines would be able to remember that their voice is important. Nine’s tendency to minimize themselves only hurts them and those around them because it prevents others from getting to see who they really are. I want Nines to see that when they know who they are and what they stand for, others are able to see who they really are as well.