Symbols surround us every day. We use them and show them without much thought.
What do the symbols you present say about you?
Perhaps in this age of texts and tweets and emoticons, symbols are used more than ever before.
We add ‘xo’ and ‘<3’ to the ends of notes to loved ones.
🙂 and 😦 display our emotions which help the reader understand the many non-verbal conversations we have with one another, hoping to ensure that our meaning is not lost in translation.
Are symbols fairly new to us and based on electronic communications? Many are but in the case of x’s and o’s, these have represented kisses and hugs for generations.
Let’s consider the other symbols that surround us:
Math provides us with a myriad of symbols, both positive or negative. Either adding or multiplying to our experience or negatively deducting from our source.
But what other symbols surround us in our daily existence?
As we age, we develop wrinkles and laugh lines. Someone meeting us for the first time sees these symbols of experience and make deductions. They start to assess our age and place themselves in relation to us. Are we older, younger, by how much?
One of my favourite lines from the song Happy Baby by Shaye is: “These lines upon my face, I’d be a fool to erase ’cause they show my place in this world.” Yet so many of us, women in particular, are obsessed with hiding our age. Who are we really trying to deceive?
What about visible scars? Do they symbolize a difficult life? A serious accident? A birth defect?
Our clothes? Symbols of societal stature?
Cars: Symbols of financial class or moral standing?
Houses: what does the size of our homes symbolize to passersby?
Choice of vacation spots: financial, educational, or a symbol of our stage in life?
The books we read. The movies we watch. Do we play video games or not?
Our lives are full of symbols; symbols that others use to define us and that we use to define ourselves.
As our friend Forrest Gump stated in the video on my post “Life is like a box of chocolates…”, “there’s an awful lot you can tell about a person by their shoes; where they’re going; where they’ve been.” These are images of ourselves that we portray, for the most part, without even realizing it. But you can’t know the whole story until you the know the whole person.
Have you ever thought of the symbols you present to the world? Are they representing the real you?
Enjoy Happy Baby by Shaye – great song, great message, great Canadian group.
Embracing Pollyanna 