Enneagram question

[IceBlock]

I'm new to the enneagram thing, and I didn't really understand the wing stuff.

I know that no personality is purely one number, and gotta have another "number" to complete. But from what I see, they can only be sequential, like 7w8, 9w1 or 6w5. Why's that?

I'm certainly a 7, but I can't see myself as a 6, even if that's only my wing. I'm no 8 definitely by the way. Actually, I see myself more like a 7w9. Maybe it's because I'm an ENFP with a really strong Fe.

So? Any explanation?

 

[BlackCat]

Basically your base enneagram type will have some key traits from both neighbors, and then one of these sets of key traits will be a bit more influential versus the other (doesn't imply that a 7w6 wouldn't identify with some 8 traits for example). I'd say if you have a hard time relating to both of your enneagram neighbors you are mistyped; but a lot of the time you have to really get into what the actual defense mechanisms and processes of the neighbors' types versus their external behavior to determine what you relate to. Me, being a 9w8, thought the 8 wing was ludicrous seeing 8s behavior, but when I got down to it I realized that I related a decent bit to where 8s were coming from but in my own way. The same with 1s, I have a hard time understanding 1s in general as people (not the type) but I can for sure see that I have some blatant type 1 patterns in my psyche.