The Importance of Symbols
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Using Symbols to Make and to Maintain Change
Historically, symbols have played a significant role in the lives of many of us. For example, symbols of nationalism and religion serve to keep individuals focused and serve as reminders of such thoughts and feelings as obligation, direction, and commitment. The power of symbols became increasingly apparent in the United States after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Within a few days after the attacks, the symbol of the American flag seemed to appear everywhere.
Symbols are representations of something - a memory or perhaps a place where one wishes to go. On a time continuum, a symbol can fit into the past, present, and future. Although symbols are usually perceived visually, they can be unique to one or more of the senses. For example, one may listen to a piece of music because it is symbolic. Listening to Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4 prior to graduation may motivate us toward achieving academic excellence. Take some time to ponder how the senses of taste, touch and smell can be perceived as personal symbols.
By changing our symbols, we change our lives. I shall relate a true story that makes this point. During the late 1980’s I served as the clinical coordinator for a readjustment counseling center for the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Most of my clients were Vietnam combat veterans. During a group therapy session, I posed a question. I asked each participant to choose an inanimate object with which he identified. I offered a few examples. One veteran stated that he frequently thought of himself as being like a nuclear submarine. He related that he was isolative and that he lived his life mostly in silence. He stated that he had lived for long periods of time without contact with the outside world and compared this with the submarine’s ability to stay underwater for extended periods of time. He preferred living in a small space. Further, he stated that he could be very volatile and that he had an arsenal of weapons. Thus he spoke of the power of the missiles carried by the submarine. The group pursued this topic with supportive questioning. They learned that this veteran had built a model of a nuclear submarine and that he displayed this model in his den.
Subsequent groups dealt with the topics of the importance of symbols and how we can change symbols that no longer reflect how we wish to live our lives. We discussed how difficult it could be to give up something without having something to replace it. After a few months, the veteran brought his model of the submarine to the group. He placed it on the fireplace mantel of the house where the meeting was held. In processing this action, we facilitated the giving up of this symbol and the relinquishment of the power of this symbol. He no longer wanted the type of life that the submarine represented.
The group asked that he find a symbol that better represented his current journey. The following week he had decided that he loved the beauty and characteristics of the old biplane – not the World War I fighter plane so much as the crop duster or the biplane that took people for sightseeing rides at the beach. This was a symbol that he recognized as adventurous, friendly, and helpful. The group and I saw a noticeable difference in this man over the next few years. He was more outgoing, did things that he had not done since high school, and seemed to enjoy life in a way that he had not thought possible.
You may ask if I attribute all of this change to the changing of a symbol. No, I do not. There was more to it. He did elicit specific support from friends and members of the group. He did contract to make a change. There were probably some factors that I will never know about. However, the work with changing symbols was an important part of his change. There were others who did similar work and who enjoyed similar benefit.
Although we may not have counter productive personal symbols in our lives, we may not fully utilize those we have. The primary problem may not be the replacement of one symbol with another, but may be identifying and utilizing the ones we have. Let’s look at a symbol that exists in most homes – a piece of artwork, photograph, or map displayed in a place of prominence. Most people that I know select any of these items because they have a certain appeal. Does the appeal have anything to do with memories of the past, of current life, or does it represent where a person wishes to take his or her life? Take some time to inventory the purpose and significance of those items under discussion and determine in which category (past, present, or future) they fall.
One focus of this site and Stop the Sabotage is to assist you is using symbols to make and to maintain personal change. Although not intentional, I discovered that I was using personal symbols from the inception of this website. I have increasingly used symbols to remind me of where I have been, where I am, and where I am going. Because life is an ever-changing process, I have symbols in my life that I refer to as “process symbols”.
I shall discuss a few of my personal process symbols for acquiring knowledge and wisdom and for keeping on the best course for life’s journey. On the wellness page of this site, you will see a picture of me in the foreground of many important personal symbols. The large map of the Chesapeake Bay represents a territory to be explored. The lighthouse represents guidance, staying clear of dangerous waters, and safety in getting to where I am going. When I served as the director of training and staff development of a government agency, I decorated my office in a lighthouse theme. This was a constant reminder of the goals and responsibilities of this position.
The picture at the top of the next page (Continuous Progress) was developed as a symbol. I decided to produce a photograph that summarized my thoughts and feelings about many of the topics covered on this site. A symbol for knowledge should represent more than the acquisition of knowledge. It should also represent the epistemology and the heuristic value of knowledge. I selected the lamp, a familiar symbol of knowledge that appears on many crests, flags, and coat-of-arms. As a symbol of direction, I chose the sextant, a navigation instrument that required considerable skill. I included a certificate to represent reaching a goal, an outdoor background to represent nature, and added a special effect of light to represent the guidance of a higher power in my life.
Symbols can represent the past, present, and the future. I invite you to surround yourself with symbols that will assist you in moving forward and that will affirm where you are and where you have been – especially your achievements and successes. I recommend that you display symbols of your goals in a place where you will see them each day. If a particular song or piece of music is motivating and represents where you wish to take your life, play it frequently. Make composite CDs or MP3s of all of your favorite inspirational and motivational music.
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From Viet Nam Veterans to Martha Stewart
Some of our most useful symbols are those things that we produce. Inherent in the making of a piece of art, decorating a room and other personal projects is a sense of personal accomplishment and pride.
During my years of working with Vietnam Veterans, I had many opportunities to visit with them in their homes and to spend time with them in non-clinical settings. It was during these times that a theory of human behavior became quite real for me. In studying the work of Dr. Aaron Beck, I had learned that it was very difficult, if not impossible, to experience feelings of anxiety or depression while simultaneously feeling competent, in control and a level of internal or external approval for one’s self.
Many of my out-patient veteran’s groups were primarily composed of those who were receiving disability compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder. The affect (presentation) of some group participants was restricted and these individuals required a great deal of encouragement to engage with other group members. Clear symptoms of depression and anxiety were apparent. The task of engaging these men in their homes or in social situations was not more easily accomplished than in the group setting. However, there was one exception – a time when I saw a very different person.
At times I would serendipitously interact with a group member when he was participating in a task in which he had great competence, control and approval. For example, I visited one man while he was repairing a small appliance in his basement workshop. He worked as we talked. I was amazed at this person’s presentation and the difference that I observed in his personality. In another case, I discovered one of my group members fishing on the riverbank. An expert fisherman, he presented as would any competent angler. In many instances, I saw individuals who were quite different than I had seen in the therapy group or in my office. People who were typically anxious and depressed were quite engaging in settings where they felt comfortable.
As a result of my experience, I began asking clients about those areas of their lives where they experienced feelings of competence, control, and approval. By simply discussing this topic, I often observed a calming effect. Some years later, I led weekend therapy groups on a post-traumatic/dissociative unit of a private psychiatric hospital. I explored this process there.
Although this site was not particularly developed for the therapist or those who suffer with depression and anxiety, what valuable lessons can be learned from this topic? One lesson is to know those areas of your life where you experience competence, control, and approval. Secondly, learn how to replicate these feelings in other areas of your life. Thirdly, expand the areas where you have not traveled. Try to accomplish something in a new area of your life. I know a few individuals who did not begin art lessons until they retired and they are now, only a few years into retirement, quite accomplished in their art.
People such as Martha Stewart and Bob Vila have inspired millions to go one step beyond where they were in designing, building, creating, organizing and repairing. Thus some have added to their list of accomplishments in new areas where they experience competence, control and approval.
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