Richard Peace in his fascinating book Noticing God states the following: “Spiritual formation is all about becoming more conscious, noticing what is happening in you and around you and saying yes to this and no to that.”

My word for 2018 is “awareness.” I have been selecting a word of the year for close to a decade and each year my word has had great impact in my life. This year, my word seems to be having more impact than normal. We are only a third of the way through the year and I can’t wait to see what is ahead!

Over the past number of months, I have been reading as much as I can about the enneagram. The Sacred Enneagram by Christopher L. Heuertz and Richard Rohr along with The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron have been instrumental in my understanding of the enneagram and what it is and how it impacts me. Podcasts that interview a wide variety of people and discuss their types have been fascinating and instructional. Typology Podcast is one of my favourites.

For those of you who know me, you will not be surprised to learn that I am a type seven – the enthusiast. I run through life with arms wide open seeking to experience everything in my wake. Life is a buffet line and I want to try it all! 🙂 I usually have a pile of books on the go and just as many arts and crafts projects underway.

Understanding my type has been instrumental in my own self awareness and growth as a person. To celebrate my type and who God has made me to be instead of an age-old thought that I need to be someone who I wasn’t created to be has been incredibly freeing. How I wish I’d known more about this in my younger years, although one could argue that a certain amount of enneagram study and understanding is difficult without a certain level of maturity. I’m not sure that I would have enjoyed reading the downside of my type a few years ago. I’ve done many different tests over the years (MBTI, Kolbe, etc.) and together with working with a life coach and studying the enneagram, I feel like I’m finally understanding myself better.

So for now, I embrace my type seven. I’m a “contemplative in action” and not the quiet contemplative in the corner pouring over the same book or project for weeks at a time. Allowing myself to consider a project complete and run off to the next shiny thing (within reason, of course) has been a recent awareness that has freed me up considerably. The old me would have tried to do “all the things” and become overwhelmed and stressed. I’m still not there, but I see improvement.

I encourage you all to be more self aware. Understand how you are wired. Dig deep into understanding what makes you uniquely you and run forth with anticipation of what’s ahead.

The most important thing about you is not the things you achieve; it is the person you become. ~ Dallas Willard

Deanna Underwood is the manager of communications of the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre​ (OUAC)​ where she oversees print and web communications​. ​OUAC is a central processing centre for those ​that apply to ​one or more of the 20 ​universities in Ontario​. Her roles also include being the liaison with university representatives and overseeing the Ontario Universities’ Fair that hosts 125,000 people each September. She has held various ministry roles including leadership board at Waterloo Mennonite Brethren church and ministry roles with the Navigators of Canada.

Her hobbies include multi-media art and she loves being outside in nature. She is a tea lover, a spin instructor, loves to play with colour, needs chocolate on a regular basis and loves to laugh!

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