Feeling Into Type Three
One of the dilemmas that Threes find themselves in is the constant doing, doing, doing - much of it unconscious.
In his poem "A Blessing for One Who is Exhausted", John O'Donohue beautifully describes many of the pain points for a Three, and also gives us opportunities to practice some remedies.
A Blessing For One Who Is Exhausted
by John O’Donohue
When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic,
Time takes on the strain until it breaks;
Then all the unattended stress falls in
On the mind like an endless, increasing weight,
The light in the mind becomes dim.
Things you could take in your stride before
Now become laborsome events of will.
Weariness invades your spirit.
Gravity begins falling inside you,
Dragging down every bone.
The tide you never valued has gone out.
And you are marooned on unsure ground.
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push yourself back to life.
You have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken for the race of days.
At first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.
You have travelled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.
Imitate the habit of twilight...
Some Questions to Consider:
1. Can you feel into Type Three? What pain points for Type Three do you notice in O'Donohues's poem?
2. What remedies or practices do you also notice in the poem?
3. How does your own tendency toward unconscious doing show up? What are you avoiding by staying in perpetual motion?
4. What remedies do you currently employ? What other ideas for practices might this poem provide?
5. How does this poem help you cultivate more compassion for Type Three?
6. How might you let go of a bit more unconscious doing, and cultivate more conscious being?