Em > 2

This 2 friend claims the opposite wing as our last 2. I love how the Enneagram clarifies our motivations while leaving so much room for diversity! Check out my Helper friend, Em.

Twos are empathetic, sincere, and warm-hearted. They are friendly, generous, and self-sacrificing, but can also be sentimental, flattering, and people-pleasing. They are well-meaning and driven to be close to others, but can slip into doing things for others in order to be needed.

When and where did you first hear about the Enneagram?

My Nashville friends were always posting about their # so it peaked my interest. But I was at a friend’s sisters house in Seattle and she asked me my #. My friend highly suggested I take the $12 test and learn more about my Enneagram #. So glad I did!

Did you know you were a 2 right away?

I didn’t read anything about the #s until after my test results. My highest # was a 2, then tied with 6&1 for second #s. I did a lot of reading up on 2’s, 6’s and 1’s to see where I thought I was. I’m definitely a 2w1. A loving, rule follower, who wants to see the world become a better place!

What about the 2 description do you love/dislike the most?

Love: taking care of others. Have often been known as Mama Bear and have been Aunt Em since I was 16 (over half my life!). I do not know any other way, except to love people.

Dislike: others expecting that I’ll say “yes” all the time.

Talk about how being a 2 fits into your choice of career.

I work in Healthcare IT specializing in Women’s Health. What that means is I make sure the providers and nurses can document everything they need to in the electronic medical record. Specifically around pregnancies. I have never been pregnant but have many friends who have been through every type of birth you can imagine along with the sorrows of miscarriages, bereavements, genetic counseling and fertility road bumps. Every day I am at work I think of those friends and imagine them as patients at my hospital. I want the best of the best for my friends so I end up putting my heart and soul into my work. Only recently have I started self care at work and setting boundaries, finally. Certain work hours, practicing saying “no” when the task being asked is not something I should do, etc. A lot of companies (who pay salary) will take 60 hour weeks, if you give it to them. Being a 2, I have to step back and put my own boundaries up so I work what I am getting paid to work (40 hours) that way I am not too tired to have a personal life also.

Which relationships in your life are most important?

My chosen family. The people I have chosen to do life with. Whether they are blood relatives or friends who have become my chosen family. They live all around the globe and range in all of the enneagram #s.

Share a story about being others-focused or focused on relationships.

I feel that I’ve always been others-focused. I would drop whatever I was doing to go babysit my nieces/nephews. I would drop whatever I was doing to help friends with their needs (moving, cooking, talking something out, etc) it wasn’t until I moved to Seattle that I realized that I don’t have to always drop everything to take care of everyone else. I need to make sure I’m ok before I can help others. HUGE learning experience but definitely needed!

How do you see yourself stepping into a stressful space (8-space) as well as a growth space (4-space)?

This past year at work was very rough. Being a 2w1 and working with people who didn’t pay attention to detail like I would really bright out the “nasty 8”. When that side would come out, I would take on too much work because I wanted it done “right” :( I am slowly realizing when I get this way and learning how to back away from it. I do not want to be nasty.

I honestly haven’t done much reading on the 4’s so can’t talk about the growth space.

How do you feel most loved?

I feel most loved when I feel appreciated. This can be as a snail mail card, text, pretty much any type of written words of affirmation. It doesn’t have to be a big show of someone saying how/why they love/appreciate me but acknowledging that they love/appreciate me, to just me, makes me feel loved.

Share a story about you and I when we were younger.

I was just shy of 16 and used to pick you up for high school in the mornings! How your parents ever allowed that I’m not sure! So many high school memories with you from FCA events to youth group. You were always one on the younger girls that I looked up to (& still do!)

Em and I on the front row. Circa 2003 or 2004. Unsure why I'm sitting like my friend Daniel (on the left)

About Em

Em is a 2w1 on the Enneagram. She grew up in McPherson, Kansas as the baby of the family. It was in Mac that she received her best name yet: “Aunt Em”. She graduated from Emporia State University with a Communications degree but only after changing majors and colleges a few times. After college she moved to Kansas City and worked at a Healthcare IT company. She now resides in Seattle, Washington working for a hospital in their IT department. In her spare time she enjoys podcasts (crime junkie), live concerts, travel, puzzles, snail mail, Christmas music, binging on trashy TV shows and being in awe of the beautiful Pacific Northwest!