L'Ennéagramme

Type 7

I don’t want to be bored and I reject situations where that could happen to me. I couldn’t bear to be bored in my work. What I can’t stand, is being bored somewhere or when you are doing something, when you could be enjoying yourself.

The Type 7 person has an irresistible need to “have fun”. He primarily seeks pleasure and likes keeping as many doors open as possible. He values enthusiasm, novelty, exciting plans and freedom.

I have always had several posts. As soon as I have done something, I want to move on to the next thing.

I seek to take pleasure everywhere, to experience freedom in space and in action. What turns me on is the intensity of what I am experiencing. In every moment of my life, pleasure is important to me. It’s a life force to find pleasure in what you do. Pleasure shines forth, gives life.

What drives Benoît Poelvoorde? Quite simply pleasure. Enthusiasm is something I don’t want to lose. I don’t care if I lose my hair or my teeth, but I can't imagine for a single moment losing my enthusiasm.

Type 7 will have a tendency to flee, avoid or circumvent all those aspects of existence that in any way related to suffering: constraints, limitations, obligations, routine, boredom, guilt, victimisation, etc. In short, anything evoking the dark side of life. He therefore often feels a contradiction between "taking pleasure" and "tolerating the inevitable difficulties" of life, which he naturally seeks to leap over at breakneck speed.

When I find myself faced with a difficult task which is a burden to me, I ask myself how I can nevertheless enjoy myself, even scoffing at the constraints, trying to get beyond them, but at the same time retaining the pleasure of creativity.

I tend to minimise my setbacks and sufferings. I hate moaning.

I can be strict with myself, but I don’t let myself get imprisoned in guilt. The important thing is to move forward.

In the course of his developmental path, going through the inevitable difficulties of existence can however lead him to accept that winter is an integral part of the seasonal cycle. His need for a light, joyful, enthusiastic and positive life can then begin to accommodate a perception of the seriousness and profundity of existence.

I went through times of great suffering after my divorce. It took me 5 years to get over it. At the start, I was rationalising but it was a defence mechanism. It’s as if I was a shadow of myself. I’ve started therapy where I’ve been able to verbalise what I was experiencing. I did a lot of inner work with breathing, meditation and searching for meaning. Little by little, I was able to distance myself from the suffering and accept that it is part of life. I feel more alive and more rooted in reality.