It’s All In the Semantics

My brother used to point his finger in my face and say “I’m not touching you”. Over and over.  Which was his annoying-little-brother way of what I would later call, “arguing semantics”! When taking his actions from a literal point of view, I had no right to complain, because he wasn’t actually interfering into what I was doing at all. Except that it made me SO MAD!!

 

My teenage son does this now, too. When we give an example of a hypothetical situation we think is parallel to the behavior we’re trying to get him to avoid, he’ll say something along the lines of “that’s not what I’m doing at all!”. He semantical understanding of the words is literal, while we mean the figurative.

 

On Wednesdays I usually take a run, with headphones in my ears and a podcast or playlist influencing my thoughts and feelings. Today I decided to take a walk and listen to spring happening instead. I have a favorite rock I like to sit on. The view looks like this:

Pretty, right? Out in the middle of the forest somewhere, surrounded by nature.

 

 

Viewed from another angle though, it looks like this:

Yeah, so NOT out in the middle of nature, just at the edge of a park actually.

This difference of perspective, while sitting in exactly the same place is what got me thinking about semantics. I love words. I love learning the etymology of words; where they come from. And being a forever-student of the world, I love finding the connections between words in different languages. I love the richness of the shades of difference among technically synonymous words.

 

Personally I am working through some pretty monumental shifts. Shifts in identity, shifts in purpose. This blog and this business, in fact, are the first manifestations of that work. I am an expert organizer, a builder of structure, a consummate planner and I LOVE my paper agenda and multi-color pens. For most of my life, my modus operandi has been to decide what I want, formulate a plan, work that plan, succeed (or fail), move on to the next thing.

The problem:

The thing I’m after right now is so big, so grand and so important that I haven’t the slightest idea what that plan will look like!

 

Operating under the umbrella of “go out and get it” has gotten me as far as it can for the moment. And for the past few days that fact has put me somewhat out of sorts.  I went out for the walk today to connect with my surroundings, to gain some patience for myself. What I found was semantics, and I promise this will all make sense in a minute!

I believe there is something out there, call it God or Source or the Universe, whatever you like. And a piece of what is out there, is also in here within each of us. We are all born with talents and abilities, you may consider these as gifts from that “something out there”. I personally, enjoy having these abilities and their unique combination within me, I hope you do to! And as a capable, “go get it” type of person, I have never resonated with the idea of “surrender”. I’ve heard that word a lot in this context of feeling stuck or unsure and how to proceed. As I was walking today, since I’ve not been able to come up with an answer in my usual way, I tried this idea on for size.

 

And this concept doesn’t bring me peace. In my body this word feels passive and weak. Quite honestly, even though I have NO idea how to get from point A to point B right now, I don’t want to “surrender to a higher power” – even though I DO believe one exists. I don’t want to “let the higher power move through me”, to “let it do its work through me”. I feel this way because in comparison to the universe I may be small, but I am unique. I am unique in the sense that in this time, there is no one else out there who has had exactly the same experiences, the same thoughts, the same gifts, the same constellation of life that I have had.

The same is true for you.

And this distinctiveness makes it impossible for me to just “give it up to a higher power”. We are meant to DO something, not wait for divine intervention. If that were the case, what would be the POINT of all of our individuality? Even the Minions have their own personalities..

 

Finally coming around to semantics: You see, semantics are about meaning. A minor shift in vocabulary while still technically meaning the same thing, is colored with a different hue.

“I surrender to the universe and let it do its work through me”

– means that I have unique characteristics that the universe needs to make use of and I am allowing this to happen. Please don’t get me wrong, this way is NOT wrong as it has helped so many people go out and do what they were meant to do. And if this works for you, I will be the last person to tell you it shouldn’t! It doesn’t, however, work for me.

But with a little shuffling, I want to share with you another way of saying essentially the same thing that can set you ON FIRE:

“I am working in partnership with the universe to help it achieve its purpose”

– still means that the universe needs me and my particular gifts, and I am allowing this to happen. This time, however, the subtle shift is one of power. I may be small in comparison, but I am mighty, and I am an active participant in the movement that I bring about. This statement can even be addended to with “and thus, also my own”. That feels more at home in my body than the other.

 

Semantics are the verbal equivalent to visual perspective. You can look at the same thing from different angles and come out with another meaning. In the music world, we’ve heard a lot about how “there’s nothing new anymore, everything’s been done before”. I would venture to say that while this may be technically true, there are still myriad ways to deliver it distinctively – it’s all in the semantics. Let me encourage you to take a different perspective in your thoughts, in the words you use when you speak to yourself. Sometimes it’s the semantics that can make all the difference.

 

At this moment, I still don’t know how I’m going to get from A to B. But I lean on the knowing that I am working in partnership with the universe and we are going to find the next step together.

 

I am curious about your thoughts on this matter, and how your next steps are shaping up – send me a line!

 

PS: because I also care about your physical well-being, and because I seem to always forget to do this myself, go drink a glass of water! Your body will thank you! xo