Recently, I got to spend time with Brian and Dee Keating discussing a travel bucket list. Brian is a nature conservationist (click here for information, and some amazing videos). During our discussion, I posed the following questions of them:

Question | What is the most important issue facing our planet?
Brian and Dee | The most important issue facing the planet they felt was our need for clean water, and the fact the majority of water is unusable to us. Roughly 1% of the world’s water is potable.

Catherine | To me, water represents going with the flow of life and the source of life! We are mainly composed of water. It is vital for our existence. As well, water moves in the path of least resistance, and has the ability to wear stones out. Water can also take the form of liquid, solid, to a vapour, which speaks to me of metamorphosis and recycling. How can we grow and change, and recycle more naturally?

Question | What can we learn from nature?
Dee and Brian felt that our ability to be in the here and now, not in the busy-ness of our lives, is a key learning from nature. They commented how we often run around without really being present to the nature around us, whether it be a sparrow, a squirrel, or a blade of grass. I found this profound. How many things do we not really experience that are really amazing?

Here are some questions for all of us to consider:

How can we take this knowledge into business?
How can we be more like water and nature?
How can we apply this to the Enneagram?

Ginger’s Blog
How to write an Enneagram blog related to nature and the Enneagram. If I were a 7, perhaps I might see an instant connection, but I don’t. But since I also believe the Enneagram really is and can be a “map of everything,” here it goes! I will take the Enneagram as a map, explaining what motivates people of each Enneagram style to be conscious of and engage in conserving our planet.

Enneagram Ones | From the One perspective, respecting our planet is simply the right thing to do. They have a point here, for if our planet’s resources dry up or deteriorate, what is left for all living things?

Enneagram Twos | From the Two perspective, respecting and saving our planet is good for all people. Whether people live in small communities or urban centers, we are all dependent on one another for preserving our resources. Pollution in India migrates far beyond India’s borders. To not be conscious of our impact on others is to be self-oriented.

Enneagram Threes | From the Three perspective, it is important to conserve for future generations. Why? Because they may plan to have children, grandchildren, and so forth. This is the natural generational flow.

Enneagram Fours | From the Four perspective, honoring and respecting the planet is fundamental to our deep connectedness, to the earth, water, air, and one another. In a sense, we are all part of everything, and everything is interconnected.

Enneagram Fives | From the Five perspective, certain issues or causes are worth energy-expenditure, and conserving our planet is among them. After all, conserving resources, including their own, is fundamental to our survival.

Enneagram Sixes | From the Six perspective, our entire planet cannot survive unless we take action to stop the negative impact we have on our environment. While there are a multitude of scenarios about what will happen if we do not, none of them are positive ones.

Enneagram Sevens | From the Seven perspective, there is something we can do to honor and utilize our planetary resources in a far better way. All we need to do is to think of innovative was to do this.

Enneagram Eights | From the Eight perspective, there is a serious environmental problem, one that requires big action, not incremental steps. And this action must happen now!

Enneagram Nines | From the Nine perspective, what affects one of us affects all of us, and in our basic natures, we need to be aligned with rather than ravage our planetary resources. If we just put our collective hearts and minds together, we will know the right action to take.