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Sun dappled live oak on Bayou Teche
EnneaThought® for the Day
Type Four EnneaThought®
“Are you still yearning for your ideal life? Appreciate the small daily pleasures, kind words, and heartfelt exchanges that are already present. You’re already more appreciated than you may think.”
I am a type four on the Enneagram. I’m the one who cries, who ponders over the past, and who turns to romanticism. Daily the message for me is to be present. Be still and know…
Recently I have felt rushed and busy. I try to take some time or myself in walks and in writing time. What space can I give to just being in the moment? How can I slow down to breathe and be present?
In poetry, I find a place to be present. When I write with specificity and imagery, I feel present. I also like the comfort of anaphora, a phrase that leads to a new thought. This poem I wrote in response to a prompt on Ethical ELA here from Sarah Donovan. She used the mentor poem “A Place to Breathe” by Christine Hartman Derr from a free Ethical ELA anthology Just YA.
There’s a Way to Breathe Today
It’s the way the sun dapples the oak tree with a halo of light.
It’s the way the cypress needles pop out like green leprechauns.
It’s the way a bayou runs through and around a town of ancestry.
It’s the way I sit at my table with coffee and a pen. Margaret Simon, draft
I hope you find a little corner to breathe in today. Find stillness. Find peace. Write about it.
A calming post, Margaret! I like what you said about finding peace in poetry, comfort in anaphora. The peace of being led somewhere new by something comfortable, like holding a hand while you’re going there.
I looked up my Enneagram number because I couldn’t remember (I’m a 2).
Thank you! I definitely need time to just be today–am home from a long week and have feet up. Might just take a nap too. I’ve meant to do the Ennea analysis for a while. Thanks for the reminder.
I do love your enneagram number – – a four. I just about cried when I found out I was a 1. I don’t like ones…..we are too particular…..and I don’t like accepting that I am a one. Your poem’s repeating line bring you into the presence and keeps you there. I, too, wish to be fully present – – and so observant of the things around me, just like you are in this poem.
I love the anaphora in this poem. It works so well. And that final stanza is perfect. Writing poetry is definitely a place to breathe and be present. I still haven’t figured out all the Enneagram stuff, but I did look back at old papers to check my Meyers Briggs type the other day…interesting…
Margaret, I really like your poem as you encourage us to find a place to just “be.” I am also, although I cannot remember my Enneagram number as I did it years ago, trying to remember to “just be” and so take some time for myself Thanks for the reminder.
Margaret, I wish I had time to breathe each day but life is too complicated. Thanks for reminding me to pause and take in the delight of springtime. You open your poem with a beautiful image and the ending stanza gives me pause to pick up my own pen.
I’m very late to respond to this, Margaret – I was in the Solomons when my last post went live, and was internet-free for most of the two weeks, which was wonderful! (Can recommend no internet, no devices, for calm breaths and slowing down. (We were busy beavers volunteering, and there was such special joy in giving.))
Margaret Simon lives on the Bayou Teche in New Iberia, Louisiana. She teaches gifted elementary students, writes poetry and children's books. Welcome to a space of peace, poetry, and personal reflection. Walk in kindness.
Reflections on the Teche 
Each of your stanzas was a breath — breathe in two lines, exhale the third. Thank you for this moment of calm and presence.
A calming post, Margaret! I like what you said about finding peace in poetry, comfort in anaphora. The peace of being led somewhere new by something comfortable, like holding a hand while you’re going there.
I looked up my Enneagram number because I couldn’t remember (I’m a 2).
The helper, of course!
Thank you for the moment of stillness Margaret!
Thank you for this breath of beauty, Margaret.
Thank you! I definitely need time to just be today–am home from a long week and have feet up. Might just take a nap too. I’ve meant to do the Ennea analysis for a while. Thanks for the reminder.
I do love your enneagram number – – a four. I just about cried when I found out I was a 1. I don’t like ones…..we are too particular…..and I don’t like accepting that I am a one. Your poem’s repeating line bring you into the presence and keeps you there. I, too, wish to be fully present – – and so observant of the things around me, just like you are in this poem.
I’m married to a one. It is a tough number to be. That critique is ruthless.
I love the anaphora in this poem. It works so well. And that final stanza is perfect. Writing poetry is definitely a place to breathe and be present. I still haven’t figured out all the Enneagram stuff, but I did look back at old papers to check my Meyers Briggs type the other day…interesting…
My guess would be a five. I’m an INFP.
Lovely, as always.
I’m a 4 as well, and often do not take the needed time for my own needs.
Poetry helps us fours.
Margaret, I really like your poem as you encourage us to find a place to just “be.” I am also, although I cannot remember my Enneagram number as I did it years ago, trying to remember to “just be” and so take some time for myself Thanks for the reminder.
I think all numbers need presence and peace. Thanks for reading.
Love these ways to breathe!
I’m a four too, Margaret. Your poem is so perfectly relatable. ❤️
Margaret, I wish I had time to breathe each day but life is too complicated. Thanks for reminding me to pause and take in the delight of springtime. You open your poem with a beautiful image and the ending stanza gives me pause to pick up my own pen.
Your poem captures a moment and draws us into it, with a calm breath, thanks for this moment and warmth!
I’m very late to respond to this, Margaret – I was in the Solomons when my last post went live, and was internet-free for most of the two weeks, which was wonderful! (Can recommend no internet, no devices, for calm breaths and slowing down. (We were busy beavers volunteering, and there was such special joy in giving.))
Loving your green leprechauns! 🙂