Writing from Signs & Symbols
Writing from Signs & Symbols
We can shift old cycles, open to possibilities & find meaning through associations
Dear Friend,
Everywhere I went this week, I ended up sitting near a bridge. It was not my intention to seek out bridges, so I noted to myself that I kept coming upon them.
Arriving to several bridges over a few days inspired me to think about them in a symbolic way–bridges as more than functional & material structures. Bridges as metaphors.
When we pay attention to signs and symbols in our daily lives, they can help us to open up a world of associations and get in touch with the deep & rich unconscious stuff in our psyches (aka the shadow). Signs and symbols can help us to notice patterns in our lives and to creatively play with our experiences in terms of metaphor and story.
I’ve been thinking about these bridges…and about our August theme of cycles. The bridges take me to times in my life when I’ve crossed from one place to another, literally and symbolically. Maybe something exciting, unknown, possible is waiting just across the bridge.
It was windy and raining in the Philly area this week, though we were lucky not to have much damage from Tropical Storm Debby here. My dog Odin and I had a funny encounter when the rain finally stopped. We met a goose, lost from his gaggle.
Salukis were bred to be hunters. Odin was rescued from the desert in Qatar where he hunted to stay alive. When he sees squirrels, rabbits, foxes and deer on our walks, he’s ready to hunt. But with this goose, Odin had no idea whether he was the hunter or the prey.
Sometimes, we tell ourselves that we have to play a prescribed role. But who says that we have to be defined in any kind of limiting way?
It was fun to see Odin realize he could just relax and co-exist with the lost goose. (Bonus creative exercise–caption the video clip giving Odin and the goose a voice!)
Maybe Odin’s new best friend could be a goose. Maybe I am on the cusp of an adventure that I can’t imagine.
Thinking in signs & symbols can open our imaginations to the possible. What signs and symbols have you noticed in your landscape this week? What cycles might be shifting?
Writing Practice: Set aside 5-7 minutes for this practice. Write in a journal or open a ‘Journey with The Season’ document where you can return each Sunday.
Prompt: Make a list of anything you encountered this week that might have symbolic meaning. It could be absolutely anything–a song you heard just when you needed it, a quote you saw on social media. Your feelings connected to nature or weather. Something physical or tangible that appeared in your landscape, your dream life or your daydreams.
Write whatever comes to your mind, absolutely anything, don’t think too hard.
Look over your lists and pick one thing that draws your attention or curiosity. Write about all of your associations with this thing–in your present life and over time. Write about your feelings and your energy connected to this thing. Write about any patterns connected to this thing or experience.
Why do you think this sign or symbol is hwoing up now? What might it be here to teach you?
I’d love to read your responses!
Deepening practice: Another way to open our imaginations and explore the symbols in our worlds is to write a letter to them, addressing them in the way that we’d write a letter to a person.
I love this letter as poem to her Inner Voice written by Julianne Theodoropulos, a participant in my Summer Creativity Recharge circle. Thank you for sharing, Julianne!
Wishing you a week full of signs & symbols that help you to open, grow & transform! With love, Gabrielle Ariella