Type 4: The Individualist (or Romantic)

Type 4: The Individualist (or Romantic)

Ego Fixation: Melancholy
Holy Idea: Origin
Basic Fear: They have no identity or personal significance
Motivations: To find themselves and their significance
Virtue To Learn: Equanimity (Emotional Balance)

The Holy Idea of "Origin" is to do with the understanding that everything derives from our Soul, or source of consciousness. The distortion here occurs when our personality or ego is searching outside of itself for an "Origin" and in doing so, romanticizes a quest for the "holy grail" that never quite seems to be attainable.

The Individualist is usually a self-aware, sensitive, and reserved person. They are emotionally honest, creative, and personal, but can also be moody and self-conscious. The Individualist has a tendency to withdraw from others due to feeling vulnerable and defective, and often feels disdain for ordinary ways of living. This type of person typically has problems with melancholy, self-indulgence, and self-pity.

The main obstacle for The Individualist is that they believe themselves to be "special" as a result of their longing for the origin of everything, or their perpetual search for that which will finally complete them (think of the stereotypical poet).

This defense mechanism of feeling "more special than others" can often be rooted in feelings of abandonment in early years (either physical or emotional) resulting in doubts of self-worth. In later years this results in the desire to compensate for these feelings of inadequacy by becoming important in some way. #enneagram #type4