Labyrinths
June 29th, 2007, 8:28 am · Post a Comment · posted by fsherman
I think labyrinths make a great metaphor for thinking about life.
A good metaphor—for me, anyway—is one that helps me think about problems or planning effectively. Thinking of life as a chess game doesn’t work at all for me, for instance, because it implies a)an adversary I have to beat, and there usually isn’t one; b)a series of tactical moves and counter-moves with nothing left to chance, which isn’t at all like life; c)me above the board moving other people to my will, which isn’t much like life either.
Mazes and labyrinths work quite well, on the other hand. Consider
•A maze can be a symbol for coping with problems (find the path out of the maze and you’re free!) or for reaching a goal (find the way to the center of the maze and you win!) because there is always a true path—you just have to find it.
•You have constant movement through the labyrinth, but multiple dead ends. But finding a dead end doesn’t mean defeat, it means you have to turn around and try a new path.
•The paths you take may be random and confused, but if you look at the design of the maze, you may see a pattern.
•If you can’t find the path, you can always think outside the box: Cut through the hedges (if it’s a garden maze) or climb on top of the wall (for a stone labyrinth) to find a way out.
In other words, it’s an optimistic metaphor: Dead ends aren’t permanent, success is possible. That’s encouraging, which is a good thing in a life metaphor. It may not always be true—I’ve seen friends with problems that don’t appear to have solutions—but as long as it’s possible, I prefer to believe the way through the labyrinth is there.
