Quotes: The Language of Symbol

"The language of symbol is of the felt senses of the body, of the numinous, of the spirit, and of the heart's yearning.

It transmits meaning in a way that touches us deeply, and leads us to wisdom.

When we are drawn to a particular symbol, it often signals a transition we are about to undergo, announcing its arrival and preparing us for it, and directing us toward the inner work that can help us change, deepen, grow."

~ Angeles Arrien, The Second Half of Life

Bummer of a Birthmark ...

In a conversation I was having this week, I was struck by the thought of someone who is claiming themselves to be the source of something, the vision-holder of something, someone who is looking for the stops, the places that block progress. I know from my work as an organizational psychologist that when an organizational culture actually begins to shift towards actualizing the vision it says it is, that the blocks that have kept it from being that vision begin to get revealed.

A true change agent is an effective business consultant and more. A true change agent has to hold the vision of the organization in the midst of the organization's fight to preserve the status quo. The organization will attack the change agent hoping to label her as an outlier and thus expel her from the system.

This basically means you get fired.

The art of it though is to manage to stay in the system while holding the vision, with just enough rapport with the old game so as not to raise too much suspicion and so be able to stay in the system.

Cultivating anonymity is an artform. Withstanding the pressure the system exerts to maintain the status quo and get rid of you, requires some know how in not taking things personally.

This has a lot in common with being responsible for creating something. Being the responsible source of something also taunts one's defense system, provoking it with the possibility of authenticity, which is tantamount to giving one's ego the black spot for extermination. To ego, possibility is a gauntlet thrown.

Years ago I wrote a paper while in graduate school on Being a Change Agent. On the title page I put a copy of a Far Side comic. Two mooses are standing upright facing one another. One has a bull's eye painted on his chest. The other is speaking to him.
The caption is: "Bummer of a Birthmark, Hal".*

So as vision holders, it's true, we can all responsibly say: "I am the one".

Bummer.

* Gary Larson

On the Wisdom of Our Elders

"The second half of life is the ultimate initiation. In it, we encounter those new, unexpected, unfamiliar, and unknowable moments that remind us that we are a sacred mystery made manifest. If we truly understand what is required of us at this stage, we are blessed with an enormous opportunity to develop and embody wisdom and character. We enjoy limitless possibilities to restore, renew, and heal ourselves. And because of our increased longevity, for the first time in history we also have the opportunity to create a map of spiritual maturity for future generations to use as they enter their own later years.


... The more challenging our world, the more we need our elders with us to share the lessons they have learned, to lend us their problem-solving skills, and to enhance our lives by imparting their unique gifts."

~ from The Second Half of Life, by Angeles Arrien