The Sidewalk of Life |
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Life is like a box of chocolates.
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Metaphors
and Life Metaphors can help us understand life. A metaphor compares dissimilar things on the basis of some underlying commonality. A new insight or broadened understanding is created. Metaphors belong to the larger class of symbols. The word symbol comes from two Greek root words meaning "to throw" and "together." The word symbol therefore means "to throw together." This is what a symbol does. When you cannot say what something is, you can say what it is like. A symbol throws together a subject that is not understood with an image that is understood in an attempt to throw light on the subject. It compares or throws together one thing that we do understand with something we do not understand in order to help us understand the thing that we do not understand. (Now, do you understand?) Symbols take us from a concrete, surface level of understanding to a greater depth of meaning. Metaphors do the same. Life is like... Thinking of life as a journey is a metaphor. We can think of life's journey in many different ways. From our beginning life is taking us to a destination with challenging adventures along the way. Life may be seen as an ocean voyage across unknown depths where storms occasionally toss us about as we seek the safety of calm shores. An old bluegrass song tells us that life is like journeying on a mountain railway with hills, tunnels, dangerous curves and the need of a brave engineer. Other metaphors speak of life as a wheel taking us through the circularity of change. Life may be seen as a spiral leading us upward in our growth towards maturity. The movie character, Forest Gump, says that, "Life is like a box chocolates. You never know what you will get." Take a chance and see what happens. Metaphors of life give us a vision of the life process and help us to understand what is required for the essential tasks of psychological and spiritual growth. Portia Nelson's delightful and insightful story of the hole in the sidewalk provides another metaphor of life. Life is like a stroll down a somewhat hazardous sidewalk. The story identifies the key feature required to safely navigate life's sidewalk. Let’s read and discuss it chapter by chapter.
Learn about simple solutions to life's problems. Reference
Nelson, Portia. There's a Hole in My sidewalk: The Romance of Self-Discovery. Beyond Words Publishing Company, 1994. ISBN: 0941831876
A wonderful collection of insights into love and life. Contains the classic "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters."
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This page last updated: 04/04/13 |
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There's a Hole in My Sidewalk by Portia Nelson: More information at Amazon.com