Exploring Metaphors
Deciding how to dress our mannequins in such a way that we express inner strength has been a slow process. Today in class some students thought that they were not working because I gave a couple of 'graffiti artists' the freedom to draw on our white board. Chris drew an 'Arnie style' man and entertained us with ghetto blaster like sounds as he provided all the details. 'Arnie' represented a very physical man, a man whose physical strength was obvious to all. He was an archetypal figure we could all relate to.
When Chris had finished we looked at the facade and I posed the question of what the inside was like. Shane obliged and came out and spontaneously drew an anatomical representation of the inside. "Is that it? Are we just blood, muscles, organs, cells?" I asked.
Silence descended! Then the bell rang! With much clatter they were gone!
Sheila stayed back to talk to me, to wrestle with just how you adequately express that there is so much more than the physical. "When I think of myself I think of a well" I said. "What do you think of?" I asked.
"A river! The sky! They help me express something endless, help me to express infinity" she replied.
As our eyes met we knew that we had not only figured out how to begin dressing our mannequins we had found metaphors that enabled us to tell the world that we are filled with an infinite supply of strength.
"But I don't know how to express the idea of the well" I confessed.
"You could have a rope coming from around her neck, down to a well." offered Sheila.
I squealed with pleasure. "Oohmygosh! Of course! I could get the guys over in welding to help me make a well out of ripple iron and attach it to the hips. Now all we need to do is figure out how you could be a river." Quite suddenly I was reminded of the river goddesses of ancient times and I suggested that we search and find out more about them. "You know Sheila, when you figure out how to do this and you actually dress her you will always know that you have unlimited resources to tap into!"
Our eyes met again! Yes! We both knew we had made a big step. We both knew that this was one of those rare defining moments when you gain self insight.
Deciding how to dress our mannequins in such a way that we express inner strength has been a slow process. Today in class some students thought that they were not working because I gave a couple of 'graffiti artists' the freedom to draw on our white board. Chris drew an 'Arnie style' man and entertained us with ghetto blaster like sounds as he provided all the details. 'Arnie' represented a very physical man, a man whose physical strength was obvious to all. He was an archetypal figure we could all relate to.
When Chris had finished we looked at the facade and I posed the question of what the inside was like. Shane obliged and came out and spontaneously drew an anatomical representation of the inside. "Is that it? Are we just blood, muscles, organs, cells?" I asked.
Silence descended! Then the bell rang! With much clatter they were gone!
Sheila stayed back to talk to me, to wrestle with just how you adequately express that there is so much more than the physical. "When I think of myself I think of a well" I said. "What do you think of?" I asked.
"A river! The sky! They help me express something endless, help me to express infinity" she replied.
As our eyes met we knew that we had not only figured out how to begin dressing our mannequins we had found metaphors that enabled us to tell the world that we are filled with an infinite supply of strength.
"But I don't know how to express the idea of the well" I confessed.
"You could have a rope coming from around her neck, down to a well." offered Sheila.
I squealed with pleasure. "Oohmygosh! Of course! I could get the guys over in welding to help me make a well out of ripple iron and attach it to the hips. Now all we need to do is figure out how you could be a river." Quite suddenly I was reminded of the river goddesses of ancient times and I suggested that we search and find out more about them. "You know Sheila, when you figure out how to do this and you actually dress her you will always know that you have unlimited resources to tap into!"
Our eyes met again! Yes! We both knew we had made a big step. We both knew that this was one of those rare defining moments when you gain self insight.