Semantic Satiation. Patience, Redefined.
Have you ever said a word over and over again until it suddenly becomes meaningless--a bunch of silly sounds strung together? This phenomenon is called semantic satiation. With each repetition of a word your brain gets more fatigued, like your bicep muscle curling a weight, until the word is reduced to its gibberish nature. Once clear of the boundaries inherent in a word, the attached idea's expansive essence is more readily available. It is in this expansive space that insight exists and a-ha moments occur.
When we communicate in our daily existence, we depend on our surface understanding of an idea, and more often than not, bypass our potential for seeing beyond what we (readily) know. And here's the crazy thing- although we are more primed to find meaning as we mature, our ability for semantic satiation diminishes the more often we use a word. Thus the older we get, the more fixed and distracted our brains become, and the harder it is to find the playful space where words are silly sounds that make you laugh out loud, and where greater intimacies with ideas wait patiently to be discovered. In other words, the older we are, the more limited we are by fixed mindsets.
Unlike Pip and Phoebe who often giggle at the sound of a word, I have not recently experienced the effects of semantic satiation. I did, however, recently read a poem once, twice, thrice that had a similar effect in dropping me deep into the idea below the word "patience." The experience was like cracking an egg open for the first time, marveling at the liquid matter living within the hard shell- it even made me laugh out loud. For a few precious moments after reading the poem a third time, I bathed in awe, in the promise and excitement of something old and seemingly stagnant transforming into something novel, enlightening and full of potential.
Before the cracking open (the a-ha moment) patience was a moral to uphold, an obligation to learn how to wait virtuously. But this definition neglects to embrace patience as an opportunity to lean into and surrender to something that is coming, that is here AND that has been. Being patient is a trifecta experience: it is the act of anticipating, the act of experiencing and the act of letting go. Patience is an experience that exists in every moment of our lives if we choose to look for it...in our breath...the passage of time..the waxing and waning of the moon...the rising and falling tide...the rising and setting sun.
Patience is, simply put, the act of letting go, of surrendering to the nature of things by (gracefully?) getting out of the way in places we have no business being.
Here's to getting to the other side of this pandemic together with PATIENCE. PATIENCE. PATIENCE.
Be well,
Georgia
P.S. If this idea of (mindful) repetition leading to a-ha moments (or deeper insights) interests you, please consider joining R I T U A L (enrollment is now open) and/or our next Blue Light Discussion The Head to Heart Kuplunk. Details below. And as always, thank you for reading.
Enrollment for R I T U A L is open. Jenny and I hope you can join us in this winter alliance. If you sign up with a friend, you will receive a $50 discount. Email georgia@bluelightyoga.com for the coupon code. Enrollment closes this Friday December 11 at midnight so don't wait, sign up right now.
This week is a regular schedule.
Monday CAKE 9am
Tuesday Blue Light Yoga 9am
Wednesday CAKE 9am
Thursday BLY 9am
Friday CAKE 9am
Our next Blue Light Book Club discussion is Wednesday, December 16 at 630 PM. We will be discussing The Story of More by Hope Jahren. Please register ahead of time.
Our next Blue Light Discussion is Wednesday, January 20 at 630 PM EST. We will be discussing The Head to Heart Kuplunk. Please register ahead of time.
Would you like to teach Blue Light Yoga and/or CAKE? I'm looking to train a very special group of individuals to help me spread the light. Please email me if you're interested.