If the center is defined (colored in)
A stable voice and way of expressing/acting; speaks and manifests reliably.
A defined center is your constant. It works the same way in any company, and it’s how you influence others, even in silence.
If the center is open (white)
Wants attention and speaks to be noticed. The Not-Self pushes to speak up and act when it isn’t the time.
An open center isn’t a flaw. It’s the place where you feel others keenly and, over time, gain wisdom: so many other people’s states pass through you that you learn to tell them apart. The only important thing is not to take what belongs to others for your own.
What this center is responsible for
The Throat is the only place where anything turns into a word and into action. Everything that is in the chart looks for a way out right here.
How definition shows in life
You have something to say, and when to say it: the voice is available, and it is yours.
In a new company where you know nobody, you start talking to the person next to you at the table without waiting for them to speak first, and it costs you no effort. At a project review the boss asks who will speak, and you are already talking before you’ve decided what you want to say. At home, in the car, at a parents’ meeting the voice is the same, available at the push of a button. Sometimes those close to you grumble that you talk a lot. But your difficulty is never how to open your mouth, it is what exactly comes out of it.
What openness turns into
You feel drawn to speak in order to attract attention, and to speak at the wrong time. Hence the feeling of “I shouldn’t have said that” or “nobody listens to me.”
A meeting, a pause, you drop in a phrase, and it falls into silence: the conversation moves on as if you weren’t there. At home afterwards you replay that minute like a stuck tape. At a birthday party you tell a story louder than usual, just to wait for someone’s laughter. And on another evening you are silent for two hours straight, you are asked directly, and the table goes quiet because it hit exactly right. The difference is not in you and not in the words. The difference is whether they were waited for or not, and that is the only thing worth tracking.
The wisdom of the open center
Wait until you are asked. An open Throat sounds strongest when it was silent before.
The Gates of this center
Each Gate is a specific theme through which the center shows itself.
How the center connects to the rest of the chart
The set of defined centers makes up your Type and inner Authority — that is, it’s the centers that determine what you make decisions with. A center “switches on” when a whole channel forms between its Gates and the Gates of a neighboring center.