Symbols are a powerful and pervasive part of human life on Earth. Where a symbol is born, meaning arises, along with judgment, followers, haters, waves of good works, playground wars, culture wars, and world wars. Symbols aid us in constructing the precarious towers of our identities, which we defend to the last, often in spite of the neighbor, the co-worker, the alien, or the person in need. They become a comfortable hiding place from quality engagement with the peoples of the world around us, and excel at blinding us from truth in the political, religious, cultural, and societal issues at hand. Symbols mean such different things to so many different people; one begins to wonder if they mean anything at all. To bear a symbol is a great responsibility; before we sing for the world to hear us, we must know our song well.
Community
What is it that makes a real, tangible community arise from smatterings of ideas and values? When I look at these hands, I see people pitching in. I see people volunteering and reaching out in offering. I see comfort, righteous anger, and solidarity. Hands like these, to me, are a symbol of community – the privilege of being a part of a greater entity, with the shared notions that no one is better than anyone else, and that everyone is better together.
What do these hands mean to you? How does the symbol of community exist within your own life?
The House and Home
The house and home is a great (if not the greatest) symbol of American success that we are taught to pursue and secure throughout our lives. This avid, feverish pursuit has plagued American history with housing discrimination, anti-immigration, and political campaigns fueled by prejudice and fear, among myriad financial woes to working families, all in the name of ‘security.’ When I look at this pile of a house, I am reminded that if ever I have a roof over my head, it is not so much a reflection of my hard, earnest work, but rather, my station in life that has afforded me the great privilege of personal space. Homes are a wonderful thing, but can easily be built thick enough and tall enough to block out those on the outside. I am wary of this symbol of American success.
What does the symbol of the house and home mean to you? Do you think it is a good measure of success in this world?
The Life of the Party
This painting, to me, is filled with symbols of fun, popularity, and socialization. It calls into question my own ways of celebrating holidays, momentous occasions, or merely being an American college student. At what point in my life did ‘having a good time’ become directly associated with having a drink in my hand? What would a holiday be like without decorations or gifts? I would like to think that celebrations can occur without all of these symbols, relying solely on my inhibited social graces and the strength of my relationships with loved ones. If this were the case, celebrations would be never-ending. I suppose that is the ultimate goal of a life well lived.
What do these ‘party’ symbols mean to you? Do you think we need symbols to tell us that we’re having a good time?
Piety
The symbol of the cross has been used and abused since its very dawning. I have seen it as an expression of a life’s devotion, and as a mere decoration; as a mechanism for violence and condemnation, or for the hope to inspire peace; as a marketing tool, or a tool for political gain. It is a symbol that permeates American culture, whether it ought to or not, meaning vastly different things to different people. From what I’ve gathered in my own studies of the cultural and political issues that currently face us, it would be a valuable exercise for people to stop, breathe, and make one very important distinction: the difference between what this symbol means, and what this symbol means to you. (This exercise can really apply to all symbols and usage. It takes a lot of courage and mental work.)
What does this symbol mean to you? How does it impact your life?
Beauty
There was a long period in my life (as in the lives of many Americans, particularly women) during which the symbol of beauty was always just out of my reach. Symbols of beauty like perfect fitness, flawless skin, and long, flowing hair were ever-evasive phantoms. It has only been in the years that I have stopped chasing them, running after the mere symbol of beauty, that I have felt truly beautiful.
What does the symbol of beauty mean to you? How does it impact your life?
What is it that makes a real, tangible community arise from smatterings of ideas and values? When I look at these hands, I see people pitching in. I see people volunteering and reaching out in offering. I see comfort, righteous anger, and solidarity. Hands like these, to me, are a symbol of community – the privilege of being a part of a greater entity, with the shared notions that no one is better than anyone else, and that everyone is better together.
What do these hands mean to you? How does the symbol of community exist within your own life?
The House and Home
The house and home is a great (if not the greatest) symbol of American success that we are taught to pursue and secure throughout our lives. This avid, feverish pursuit has plagued American history with housing discrimination, anti-immigration, and political campaigns fueled by prejudice and fear, among myriad financial woes to working families, all in the name of ‘security.’ When I look at this pile of a house, I am reminded that if ever I have a roof over my head, it is not so much a reflection of my hard, earnest work, but rather, my station in life that has afforded me the great privilege of personal space. Homes are a wonderful thing, but can easily be built thick enough and tall enough to block out those on the outside. I am wary of this symbol of American success.
What does the symbol of the house and home mean to you? Do you think it is a good measure of success in this world?
The Life of the Party
This painting, to me, is filled with symbols of fun, popularity, and socialization. It calls into question my own ways of celebrating holidays, momentous occasions, or merely being an American college student. At what point in my life did ‘having a good time’ become directly associated with having a drink in my hand? What would a holiday be like without decorations or gifts? I would like to think that celebrations can occur without all of these symbols, relying solely on my inhibited social graces and the strength of my relationships with loved ones. If this were the case, celebrations would be never-ending. I suppose that is the ultimate goal of a life well lived.
What do these ‘party’ symbols mean to you? Do you think we need symbols to tell us that we’re having a good time?
Piety
The symbol of the cross has been used and abused since its very dawning. I have seen it as an expression of a life’s devotion, and as a mere decoration; as a mechanism for violence and condemnation, or for the hope to inspire peace; as a marketing tool, or a tool for political gain. It is a symbol that permeates American culture, whether it ought to or not, meaning vastly different things to different people. From what I’ve gathered in my own studies of the cultural and political issues that currently face us, it would be a valuable exercise for people to stop, breathe, and make one very important distinction: the difference between what this symbol means, and what this symbol means to you. (This exercise can really apply to all symbols and usage. It takes a lot of courage and mental work.)
What does this symbol mean to you? How does it impact your life?
Beauty
There was a long period in my life (as in the lives of many Americans, particularly women) during which the symbol of beauty was always just out of my reach. Symbols of beauty like perfect fitness, flawless skin, and long, flowing hair were ever-evasive phantoms. It has only been in the years that I have stopped chasing them, running after the mere symbol of beauty, that I have felt truly beautiful.
What does the symbol of beauty mean to you? How does it impact your life?
