The Companions We Need
A reflection on Enneagram ego patterns, spiritual surrender, and the companions we need during wilderness seasons of faith and life.
Lately I’ve been thinking about wilderness seasons.
Not the kind you see on survival shows—though I’ll admit I’ve watched my share of Survivor, Alone, and the newer shows where people are dropped into the wild with almost nothing and forced to figure out how to live.
What fascinates me about those shows isn’t just the survival skills. It’s the moment contestants often describe when the boat pulls away and they realize they are truly on their own. Some of them call that moment “drop shock.”
Life has its own versions of drop shock.
The moment when something changes—a loss, a transition, a question about faith, a shift in identity—and suddenly the maps we were using don’t seem to work anymore. The strategies that once gave us stability stop helping us navigate what’s happening.
In spiritual traditions, seasons like this are often called wilderness.
And wilderness seasons raise an important question:
What companions do we need when our usual ways of navigating life stop working?
In a new essay on Substack, I explore how these moments reveal the limits of our ego strategies—something the Enneagram helps illuminate—and how wilderness seasons invite us to discover deeper companions like surrender, stillness, courage, and trust.
If you’ve ever found yourself in a season where the old maps stopped working, this reflection might resonate.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL POST ON SUBSTACK