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Type 7: The Idealist

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Exploring the Enneagram through Art. (continued) 
Sevens are the multi-taskers, brimming with enthusiasm and sunny energy. They live in an idealized reality and see the world as their oyster, carried by the belief that life is unlimited and there for the taking and enjoying.
Their basic desire is be happy, satisfied and to find fulfillment and they fear being deprived or trapped in pain. As a result they tend to try everything but with divided attention and do not stay with anything long enough to  experience it deeply or to get any real satisfaction from it. They keep trying to fill up an inner emptiness with things and experiences.
When Sevens understand that fulfillment is not the result of “getting” anything, but a state of being that arises from allowing the richness of the present moment to touch them without anticipating what the next moment may bring, the simple pleasure of existing arises in them. By working through their feelings of pain and deprivation, they often realize that they had already survived what they most fear. They experience a rebirth into reality and personifies joy and lightness of being.

 We used an astonishingly beautiful piece of Wild Olive wood to depict the Seven. From both sides the wood looks like a figure which is most visible on the picture above. I placed ceramic “pearls” in the groove on the top of the “head” and a ceramic  “oyster” on the right “shoulder”.  To me the figure seems to be dancing with arms raised. This  side of the sculpture shows the Signature of the Sevens portraying the world as their oyster, producing joy in their heads rather than truly experiencing the moment. The wood was polished to be super smooth and glossy to show the Seven’s tendency to live in an idealized reality.
The Life or essence side shows unfinished wood as a symbol of real life and the difficult birthing process of the Seven, often through pain, to reach authentic joy and lightness of being as symbolized by the newly emerged imago from a chrysalis. The “figure” on this side seems to be looking at, and holding the fragile being of joy, very tenderly.
Materials used: Ceramic clay, Wild Olive Hardwood.  Size: 65cm high x 70cm wide x 17cm deep
Artwork by Matilda Clifford and George Angus

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