An Intro to Human Design | The Five Types | Generators
Artist: Robin Isley
Our Human Design is comprised of nine centers, thirty-six channels, and sixty-four gates, all of which present as either open or closed, connected or absent, on or off, respectively. There are a lot of parts and pieces and potential combinations, so suffice it to say that how these centers, channels and gates interact all combine together to form our overall Human Design.
Over the past few weeks, we tackled all nine of our energy centers. If you're new to Human Design, and want to get yourself caught up, check out the "New to Human Design?" link above and follow the center-by-center click path.
Today, we're shifting our focus and zooming in on the five types, starting with Generators.
Artist: Elnaz Abedi
Before we get too far into our specific discussion of Generators, let's put the five types into perspective. According to Ra Uru Hu, a mutually beneficial relationship is designed to exist between the four* types:
Manifestors are here to INITIATE, and their focus should be on their impact
Generators are here to RESPOND, are their focus should be on knowing themselves (their response process and what fulfills them)
Projectors are here to GUIDE, and their focus should be on knowing how to best utilize the gifts and energetic resources of the other types.
Reflectors are here to REFLECT the state of the world, and their focus should be on the wellbeing of the environment and the people around them
*Ra Uru Hu categorizes Manifesting Generators as a variation of a Generator and not a type by themselves, but so much has been written about them that we'll give them their own post tomorrow :) In a nutshell, Manifesting Generators have their Sacral Center defined like a Generator, but also have a direct connection between the Sacral Center and the Throat Center, which gives them that power of initiation. A close look at a Manifesting Generators centers can reveal whether they are more Manifestor or more Generator, and which strategy is most appropriate for them.
Artist: Daphne Kladis (when we're in the FLOW, energy just courses through us!)
Where my fellow Generators at? 🙋♀️👷♀️🏃♀️💪
As Generators, the key to our success is a three-step process:
wait
react
respond
On the surface, this seems like SUCH A SIMPLE THING TO DO, but so many of us really struggle to do just that.
As Generators, we all have a defined Sacral Center, and many of us have Sacral Authority in our charts, which means the messages we receive from our Sacral Center ideally should guide our decision-making process. Unfortunately, we don't have a direct connection between a motor center and our Throat Center, which is why even though our Mind Center makes us think we can initiate, we often really struggle to do so. In fact, getting our Mind Center involved is just about the worst thing we can do, as the Sacral Center is designed to give us all the mechanical automatic guidance we need to know what's right for us, and what definitely is not.
Generators comprise roughly 37% of the population, with our siblings the Manifesting Generators comprising roughly 33%. That's 70% of the population, so we're in good company. We are the doers, and (thankfully) over time, we've evolved and developed the capacity to live out this charge more awake and alive, aware of the full potential of our Sacral energy with more control over where it's directed.
Again, according to Ra Uru Hu, the overarching goal of the four types (remember, he lumps Manifesting Generators and Generators together) should be perfect symbiosis: our relationships are deeply mutually beneficial when Manifestors initiate, Generators respond, Projectors guide said response, and Reflectors reflect back the state of affairs. So as Generators, our goal is to really focus in on knowing ourselves deeply, which includes how our own Sacral Center communicates to us (in addition to how our Authority communicates to us, if it's something other than Sacral) as well as what we values and enjoy. As Generators we are designed to LOVE what we do, and we're supposed to feel a deep sense of fulfillment and accomplishment through our work, whether that work is in a career we love, directed toward a hobby or passion project, or devoted to raising and supporting a family. The only way that we receive that sense of fulfillment is by tuning into our body's response and only committing ourselves to the things that elicit a FUCK YES.
Artist: Daphne Kladis . (a physical representation of the UHN-un😭)
So there are two big questions I get from Generators all the time:
What am I supposed to do while I'm waiting to respond? and
How will I know if I responded to the right thing?
Let's tackle the first question first: What am I supposed to do while I'm waiting to respond? EVERY BREATH WE TAKE IS A RESPONSE. #nevernotresponding I think there's a weird misperception that we can only respond to direct questions or to tasks given to us by the people around us, but that is so limiting. We can respond to ideas, to energies, to invitations, to art, to music, to books, to actions, to topics in discussions...the list just goes on and on.
I humbly present myself as a case study: Six months ago, when I was MISERABLE and debating whether or not to quit my corporate job and start this blog, I had no idea what it would end up looking like or what path it would take, so I started by setting an intention: I want to be self-employed and I want to write. So then I waited for guidance, and while I waited, I immersed myself in topics and ideas that lit me up: I went hiking, because being on the trail always lights me up and while I'm hiking, because my body is engaged and my mind is clear, I often end up receiving synchronicities, pings and downloads. I bought books and started journaling, because reading and writing are two things that creatively turn me on. I felt a pull toward the book The Women Who Run With the Wolves, and in response to some of the ideas in the book, this blog was born. I listened to podcasts and followed the social media accounts of women who were making it happen in the blogging/podcasting/wellness space, and watched what they were doing and how they were running their businesses, and started feeling out what might feel right for me. (Even the day I quit came from a deep vocal UHN-un. That morning, the moment I heard my alarm go off, I just erupted into tears and this guttural involuntary UUUUHHHHHNNNN-UUUUNNNNN just came pouring out of me. My body was literally screaming at me that I could not spend one more day devoting my energy to a job that was literally making me ill). And the entire time I kept checking in with my Sacral energy: did I feel pulled toward something (my ah-HUH 😃) or did I feel a contraction of energy (UHN-un😭)? I just made the conscious decision let go of fear and doubt and decided to really go with my gut and let the universe respond to my intention by giving me the ideas, people and tasks to respond to that would lead me to where I needed to go. And it has worked out so well thus far. In the past six months, I went from depressed, stressed, negative and physically sick to the path back to my growing, creative and intuitive self...and each day just keeps getting better.
And how do you know if you're responding? Well, by taking action, are you:
answering a question?
addressing a need?
filling a void?
If you can answer YES to any one of those questions, even if the action you're taking is creating something, you're responding. I want to be clear: Generators and Manifesting Generators are not here to do the bidding of the other types. But we do need to be discerning about what we give our tremendous Sacral energy to. Once those energetic floodgates open, it's hard to pivot or change course, so our strategy of responding just ensures that whatever action we do decide to take isn't in service to the ego and instead serves either or highest self, the greater good, or both.
If you're just learning to let yourself be led by your Sacral Center, you can practice first with responding to questions or ideas that are from a solid, external source. Then, as you get better at discerning the way your authority or Sacral Center communicates YES or NO to you, start posing questions to yourself. OR try this exercise: read a menu for a restaurant you've never been to before and allow your Sacral to respond with an ah-HUH or UHN-un to every item on the menu. Food is super sensual, and and usually easily elicits a verbal or authentic Sacral reaction. Most of us have been conditioned since we were children away from listening to our gut, and told to use our heads when making decisions, so getting back into this old habit might take some practice.
How will I know if I responded to the right thing? Well, you'll either feel FLOW or FRUSTRATION. For me, flow feels like this buzzing, energetic surge of activity, like words are just pouring out of me and my fingers are struggling to type fast enough to keep up. It's a happy humming of feel-good vibes and even if a task seems like a lot of work, it's joyful work, work that I can't wait to get started doing. I think we're all familiar with what frustration feels like, but I think a KEY thing to keep in mind is frustration is not a feeling that we should beat ourselves up over. Frustration doesn't mean failure. So much of what’s been written about frustration claims that if you feel it, you must be doing something wrong when in fact, as Generators, frustration can be our greatest teacher. It’s through frustration that we attract new things to respond to.
When we feel frustrated, we need to lean into the feeling, pause, and wait for the next thing to respond to. When we pause and wait, the universe usually shows up pretty quickly and provides us with a next step. But fearing or avoiding that frustration response is like trying to have a conversation with someone blindfolded wearing noise-cancelling headphones: frustration and flow are the language the outer world uses to nudge us in the right direction, to teach us what is meant for us and what is not. All we have to do is show up, listen, wait, react and respond. And once we respond to something that is right for us, our Sacral Center kicks on and engages, fueling our efforts until the task is complete.
While we're responding, we might feel our energy plateau a bit. This is not the time to quit. It doesn't necessarily mean we responded to the wrong thing. It just means that we need an additional something to respond to that will reengage our Sacral energy and get us to that next step. Luckily, Generators are MAGNETIC in that we are designed to draw questions out of others, and it's precisely this process of responding --> plateauing --> reengaging --> frustration --> pausing --> receiving --> responding that directs our steps along our path. We just need to remain open-minded and trust that even though the Universe might take us a different way than we envisioned taking, we will ultimately get to our destination.
Artist: Juan Stockenstroom
Now, real talk for a minute: a world in which we only say yes to things we want to do and say no to everything else is impossible to achieve overnight, and not 100% possible 100% of the time. We all have obligations and responsibilities, like laundry and dishes and paying taxes that DEFINITELY don't light us up and we can't just say NOPE NOT GONNA without there being some real world consequences. That said, a more realistic expression of this charge is that of balance and evaluation. Here's a healthy exercise for Generators, especially those just starting to feel out how to best work with your Sacral Center:
Sit down with a trusted friend and talk through a typical day, from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed.
Have them ask you YES or NO questions as you go, for the big events as well as the little things.
Take note of which activities elicit an ah-HUH 😃and which elicit an UHN-un😭. Keep a list/tally your responses.
Brainstorm: of all the UHN-un😭s you uncover, where do you have flexibility? Where can you stop committing your energy tomorrow that would make a difference in your quality of life? Little shifts lead to bigger shifts...AND this gives you something to respond to!
Here's an example:
You: "I usually get up around 5:30am"
Friend: "Do you like getting up at 5:30?"
You: "UHN-un."
Friend: "Then what happens?"
You: "Well, I hop in the shower and listen to music."
Friend: "Do you prefer showering in the morning?"
You: "ah-HUH."
*AND scene*
We learned two things about the "you" in this scenario: 1) responding to an alarm and waking up that early feels bad and 2) showering in the morning as a response to their wakeup time feels good. Those things might seem SUPER mundane and obvious, but if you go through your entire day with that level of detail, you might uncover where you've gotten into habits that are out of alignment with the ah-HUH 😃energy your Sacral Center WANTS to release and make available for you, and where you might have committed yourself to a UHN-un😭that's stealing your precious time and energy. Tally it up and look at what you find: How much of your day is ah-HUH 😃? How much is UHN-un😭? The goal is to create a day, and eventually a life, that's filled with the things that light us up, so that taking care of our obligations don't send us over the edge.
Are you a fellow Generator? Did this resonate with you? Let me know in the comments 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Sources:
Curry, Karen. Understanding Human Design. Hierophant Publishing, 2013.
Parker, Karen Curry, et.al. Abundance by Design. GracePoint Matrix, 2016.
Parker, Karen Curry. Human Design Activation Guide. GracePoint Matrix, 2018.
Parkyn, Chetan. Human Design: Discover the Person You Were Born to Be. New World Library, 2009.