Forty Days on Being a Four - (Enneagram Daily Reflections) by Christine Yi Suh (Hardcover)

About the Book

What is it like to be an Enneagram Four? These forty daily readings from Christine Yi Suh reflect on the emotional lives of Fours with a desire for personal and spiritual growth. Each reading concludes with an opportunity for further engagement such as a journaling prompt, reflection questions, a written prayer, or a spiritual practice.

Book Synopsis

"How are you feeling?"

Christine Yi Suh says that this has always been a hard question. She writes: "The more accurate question for a Four may be, 'What aren't you feeling?' I can grab my prevailing emotion and tell you how I'm doing from that emotion's point of view (joy, elation, sadness, grief, confusion--you name it!). I live and breathe a kaleidoscope of living, feeling, conflicting emotions."

Many times Fours are labeled "emotionally intense" or "too much," but for a Four this is just how life is. This is why Fours are ideal companions in the midst difficult times: the death of a loved one, the birth of a baby, transitional seasons in career, relational conflict, and so on.

The Enneagram is a profound tool for empathy, so whether or not you are a Four, you will grow from your reading about Four and enhance your relationships across the Enneagram spectrum. Each reading concludes with an opportunity for further engagement such as a journaling prompt, reflection questions, a written prayer, or a spiritual practice.

Review Quotes

"Forty Days on Being a Four by Christine Yi Suh made me feel both exposed and known in ways I most needed. As with all Fours, I tend to think of myself as so unique that no one else could possibly understand. Not only did this book show me I'm understood, it gave me and my fellow Fours a ladder to climb down from the isolating tower that the need to be 'special' traps us in. Inviting and creative practices engaged my feelings, yes, but also my mind and body in ways that were healing and holistic. And Christine's experience as a Korean American woman challenged me to change my comfortable assumptions about my behaviors and attitudes that she proved were less about being a Four and more about being part of the dominant culture. If you're tired of being trapped in the overwhelming reality of your vast emotional life and the need to feel special, as a fellow Four I highly recommend this book to you."

"Christine Yi Suh's wonderful Forty Days on Being a Four helps us explore our gloriously tumultuous inner worlds, motivations, and emotions . . . the natural habitat for those of us who engage the world as Enneagram Fours. Reading this book helped me feel seen and a little less weird. But more importantly, in sharing her experience as a Korean American woman, Christine invited me outside my limited viewpoint as a white dude and into a fuller and more beautiful vision of what it means to be a Four . . . and a human. This book is a gift."

"In Forty Days on Being a Four, Christine Yi Suh gifts us with more than just keen and valuable insights into what it's like to exist as a specific Enneagram type. She offers us pastoral wisdom wrapped in grace, and room for loving reflection and challenge. Fours and all types alike will love getting to know Christine as an incredible leader and trusted guide for our current times."

About the Author

Christine Yi Suh is a writer, spiritual director, and pastor. She has previously served as a pastor of spiritual formation and as the assistant director of spiritual formation and care at Pepperdine University. Christine received her MA in theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is a graduate of the Renovaré Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation. She is a regular contributor to Missio Alliance and the Nine Beats Collective. She and her spouse, David, live with their two children outside of Los Angeles.

Suzanne Stabile is an internationally recognized Enneagram master teacher. She is the author of The Path Between Us and coauthor, with Ian Morgan Cron, of the bestseller The Road Back to You. She is the host of The Enneagram Journey podcast. Along with her husband, Rev. Joseph Stabile, she is cofounder of Life in the Trinity Ministry located in Dallas, Texas.