Sunday
Then: There
Another couple, Mary Melbo and John Witek, were there with us at every critical turn, and they rounded out our fighting force. Mary is a psychologist, and John is a psychiatrist and recently was a neurologist. And while all this expertise certainly was to our benefit in their attention to me, there was more to it. I describe it as if we were all siblings, with Carla and Mary like twins, and John like an older, wiser brother to me.
They were there for the collective yelp in Bill Utz’s waiting room when we learned the scans were negative for bone involvement. Utz brought John out to the light-box to show him my X-Rays and scans. I looked and listened, and felt bizarrely detached from their conversation about my body. My mind was still swimming with how to react to the unexpected news that the cancer had not jumped into the bones on its way next to my brain.
They were there with me on the evening prior to surgery, through the surgery at Mayo and during the short visit with the surgeon following surgery. John even came back to Rochester to chauffeur us home.
Mary is a psychologist who uses a personality assessment tool called the Enneagram in her practice. She has typed Carla and me in the past, and John, and the four of us constantly compare our very different types’ reactions during various situations.
The Enneagram appears to stem from an ancient culture called Sufi. Today’s Enneagram practice started with an Eastern mystic in the 1920's. It was turned into a spiritual tool in the 1960's by a Bolivian mystic, and then was integrated with modern psychology by a Chilean psychiatrist in the 1970’s.
The Enneagram measures human personality by nine basic types. However, instead of measuring just behavior traits, it digs into motivations. That means that people demonstrating the same behaviors may actually have quite different personalities driven by varied motivations.
John is Type Five, described as having an unquenchable thirst for information or knowledge. Some of the greatest minds in history were fives whose ideas challenged the conventional wisdom, forcing those around them to think differently. Among the motivations are privacy.
Mary is Type Three, described as ambitious, goal-oriented, adaptable. Motivations of the Three are to be admired by others, successful, and a winner.
Carla is a Six, described as loyal, skeptical, complex, fearful, dependable. Motivations are to find security, and resolve their fears.
I’m a Seven, described as enthusiastic, worldly, optimistic, scattered, accomplished. One Web site says that Sevens can ‘truly love life like no one else, but can fall victim to hedonism and excess.’ Motivations are to experience life, be happy, and not miss out.
For fun, I found quotes that nail what motivates these four types:
For the One: “Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn't look up. Well, maybe once." Isaac Asimov
The Three: “We work to become, not to acquire.” Elbert Hubbard
The Six: "It is clear the future holds opportunities — it also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to seize the opportunities, avoid the pitfalls, and get back home by 6:00." Woody Allen
The Seven: “There is one thing which gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner.” G.K. Chesterton ¶ 1:02 PM
They were there for the collective yelp in Bill Utz’s waiting room when we learned the scans were negative for bone involvement. Utz brought John out to the light-box to show him my X-Rays and scans. I looked and listened, and felt bizarrely detached from their conversation about my body. My mind was still swimming with how to react to the unexpected news that the cancer had not jumped into the bones on its way next to my brain.
They were there with me on the evening prior to surgery, through the surgery at Mayo and during the short visit with the surgeon following surgery. John even came back to Rochester to chauffeur us home.
Mary is a psychologist who uses a personality assessment tool called the Enneagram in her practice. She has typed Carla and me in the past, and John, and the four of us constantly compare our very different types’ reactions during various situations.
The Enneagram appears to stem from an ancient culture called Sufi. Today’s Enneagram practice started with an Eastern mystic in the 1920's. It was turned into a spiritual tool in the 1960's by a Bolivian mystic, and then was integrated with modern psychology by a Chilean psychiatrist in the 1970’s.
The Enneagram measures human personality by nine basic types. However, instead of measuring just behavior traits, it digs into motivations. That means that people demonstrating the same behaviors may actually have quite different personalities driven by varied motivations.
John is Type Five, described as having an unquenchable thirst for information or knowledge. Some of the greatest minds in history were fives whose ideas challenged the conventional wisdom, forcing those around them to think differently. Among the motivations are privacy.
Mary is Type Three, described as ambitious, goal-oriented, adaptable. Motivations of the Three are to be admired by others, successful, and a winner.
Carla is a Six, described as loyal, skeptical, complex, fearful, dependable. Motivations are to find security, and resolve their fears.
I’m a Seven, described as enthusiastic, worldly, optimistic, scattered, accomplished. One Web site says that Sevens can ‘truly love life like no one else, but can fall victim to hedonism and excess.’ Motivations are to experience life, be happy, and not miss out.
For fun, I found quotes that nail what motivates these four types:
For the One: “Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn't look up. Well, maybe once." Isaac Asimov
The Three: “We work to become, not to acquire.” Elbert Hubbard
The Six: "It is clear the future holds opportunities — it also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to seize the opportunities, avoid the pitfalls, and get back home by 6:00." Woody Allen
The Seven: “There is one thing which gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner.” G.K. Chesterton ¶ 1:02 PM
