Symbols help us make sense of the world around us. We use symbols all the time. But usually in an unconscious way. Choosing to create symbols that have meaning for you particularly can be useful in managing all sorts of difficulty. Addiction, PTSD, trauma, relationships, symbols are stories in short, they give us a framework to understand ourselves better. Dreams are an example of this as is imagination and stories. We are the only creatures on earth that tell stories. Myths and symbols have long served to help us make sense of our place in the world, to give meaning to our lives and help us deal with fears. It creates a sense of purpose.
So how do you invent symbols and why? Our subconscious mind is an enormous data bank and much of what it contains can be converted into symbols as a way of using that data for self-understanding and awareness.
If I asked you to think of a symbol that reminds you of your mother, what comes to mind? Some common answers when I ask this question, is a flower, a pillow, some kind of food item, or clothing. It doesn’t matter how silly it might seem. Once you make the connection it won’t seem silly anymore. Just like interpreting a nighttime dream. Once you understand the dream it doesn’t seem silly anymore. In dreams the subconscious is playing with all the collected images and other data and turning it into stories that reflect a truth about who you are, what matters most to you, what you fear, what you hope for, what makes you anxious and what brings you joy. You can use symbols in the same way.
Inventing symbols to confront a personal issue can be very effective because it approaches the issue indirectly, through a symbolic filter. Dealing with an issue directly we can sometimes get caught up the details and lose our way. Symbols allow us to take a huge step back. They can bring us to deeper truths that go beyond what our conscious mind thinks is obvious.
For example, I asked someone going through a difficult divorce what symbol came to mind when they thought of their divorce as an object. She told me the object that came to mind, was a huge whiteboard. At first this seemed ridiculous to her, but as she described it the meaning became clearer. When she envisioned it she said the whiteboard was covered in meticulous writing that filled every square inch of the board. That writing was the story of her marriage and what she hoped and dreamed her relationship would be and that her ex was using an eraser to wipe off the board. She could have just told me her ex was ruining everything she had tried to create but the symbol was far more powerful. And more than that, it gave her a framework to begin the healing process. Some questions I asked her to help deepen the symbolic story: What is the whiteboard specifically? Where is that whiteboard now? Where did that writing come from? What is the eraser? And so forth. Answering these questions through the use of symbols created just enough distance from the problem for her to see her divorce in a new way.
Symbols are like distant entry points. The front door is not always the best access point to a problem. Inventing symbols and even further allowing yourself to create a story using those symbols can give you insight into the deeper subconscious beliefs operating in your life. Invent your symbols, use them to overcome difficulties, to find resolution in a relationship, create peace and understanding with something out of your control. We are meaning-making machines and symbols are a good use of that instinct.
