Map Symbols
Read The Map Presented Here Before Embarking Down The Heartwood Path
Photo by Lilia Danilevich, Pexels.com.
To read any map it is necessary to understand its symbols. Some maps are diagrammatic representations of terrain usually found in books or on walls. Others are charts or guides and, if they are very lucid, they are referred to as maps—as in the Freudian Map of the Mind. The Heartwood Path can only become clear enough to be considered map-like if its symbols—it’s signs of written communication—are prominently displayed and made to be understandable. That is the purpose of this waypoint. After this brief summary of some words that have been proven to be problematic to Heartwood Path wayfarers that did not bother with definitions, the Activity will further the goal of making sure the Heartwood Path is map-like in its clarity by presenting questions and offering prescriptions to help path-goers be in a suitable frame of mind.
The symbols that are pulled out here for greater clarity are ones that will be more understandable and useful to you if you are optimistic. For this reason, be sure to do the activity at the end of this waypoint. Doing so will make you better prepared for what follows.
In reading the map that is the Heartwood Path you are reading the chart for the terrain. You are not reading the territory itself—which is you and your environment. Understanding the following oft-misunderstood symbols—four words, actually—will help you better understand and appreciate the text that follows. You will also better perform the activities that follow.
The first impediment we are hereby removing from the Heartwood Path is the sometimes careless definition of the word “states.” We shall use this word (symbol) to mean “the circumstances, attributes, structure, form, phase, or condition of a person or thing.” We will speak of states of flow, states of well-being, the state of separation, the state of being aware, the transient state, the state of harmony, and the state of the earth.
The second stumbling block is the poor understanding of the symbol (word) “stages.” As we use this word, it means a single degree, step, phase, period, or position in a process. We shall speak of stages of self-transcendence, life stages, the integral stage of spiritual development, and the transpersonal stage of development. We shall also use the word “stage” as an elevated platform, as in the stage of your thoughts.
We shall use the sometimes problematic word “streams” most often to mean a continuous flow of anything. We shall speak of an enduring stream of energy, streams of email, the endless stream of television, streams of air, and streams of water.
Our use of the stumbling block word “varieties,”which means being varied or diversified, has to do with gender differences, the variety of your feelings, the variety of your spiritual preferences, and the variety of experience.
Having such specific definitions for the words “states,” “stages,” “streams,” and “varieties” will lower the chances of you having difficulty in perceiving the Heartwood Path Map Of Integrity and the wholeness of your life it represents. Another way to lower the likelihood of misunderstanding is to work on removing your inevitable, automatic, pessimistic blocking thoughts. As you will see in the following activity, there are a number of questions you can ask yourself that have answers which will help you to overcome thoughts that are barriers to your happiness, to overcome pessimism, and to remove some hindrances to your efforts to live in a sustainable environment.
To Hopefulness-producing Queries…
Photo by Ivan Stecko, Pixels.com.
