Why Do We Look For Symbols Obsessively?
After reading Tess Gallagher's poem "Choices" I did not think about the poem after finishing my essay, instead what rattled around and around in my brain was the idea of symbols. Why are we so intent on looking for symbols, for the symbolism in objects and events in every facet of our lives?
In "Choices" it is a nest that could by a symbol for home, or life or whatever you might see in it. But isn't it just a nest? At it's most literal and fundamental level, isn't it just a nest? Why do we make it more complicated than it has to be. Because we want there to be meaning beyond the surface, beyond the superficial.
We do this in every facet of our life. We talk about fate and destiny, we read horoscopes and look for meaning in the stars. We want meaning desperately, and we look for it anywhere we can. And in "Choices" we see it in a nest and, at least according to Gallagher, and change our life for the better. Or in my case you just see a nest.
In "Choices" it is a nest that could by a symbol for home, or life or whatever you might see in it. But isn't it just a nest? At it's most literal and fundamental level, isn't it just a nest? Why do we make it more complicated than it has to be. Because we want there to be meaning beyond the surface, beyond the superficial.
We do this in every facet of our life. We talk about fate and destiny, we read horoscopes and look for meaning in the stars. We want meaning desperately, and we look for it anywhere we can. And in "Choices" we see it in a nest and, at least according to Gallagher, and change our life for the better. Or in my case you just see a nest.
I would argue that a nest, in its literal meaning, is a symbol of a home for a family unit even without adding any superficial meaning to it. Nonetheless, I agree that we too often attach meaning to something which has no meaning, and make our lives more complicated and confusing than they ought to be. As I learned in Astronomy, there is nothing special about our planet's place in the universe (although the solar eclipse is an exception thanks to the way the size of the moon matches the size of the more distant sun), but a lot of people find comfort in believing that the Earth and humanity is special. There is no harm in these beliefs until things happen in a way that the meaning we had previously attached to something no longer fits.
ReplyDeleteSymbols are part of our life now. We recognize things by certain symbol because that's how they started people to choose. It's true we use symbols sometimes that goes beyond literal meaning of it and we will have to live with it. Symbols are just there for people to specify things and it shouldn't be a problem as long as it does no harm to society.
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