Landscapes of the Sacred - Lindsey Ceniviva

In class today we discussed a section of our book in great detail. Analyzing our book takes time and effort, but once achieved we establish an excellent understanding of the ideas being portrayed. This section included Edwards talking about humans and their strong dependence on symbols for just about everything. He explained that, “spirituality takes place due to the symbol making process”. Meaning, all the information that we share with others is not anything concrete, yet it is a symbol of the information. Whenever we share a story with our best friend we can not share the actual event so we share a description of it, which is a symbol of it. Forming maps or diagrams in our minds are also symbols of the real thing. So symbols are constantly being used in order to communicate things, such as spirituality. It is important that we have friends to help us navigate our lives, especially if we are not good symbolizers, because we are continually analyzing our lives. Being away at college I am not able to experience things with my best friends so I must resort to symbols to explain my life’s events to them. For example, when describing a basketball game I cheered at to my friend Diana I must illustrate a visual symbol of the game in order for her to share in the experience. When explaining a paper I have written to my Mom I can not give her the exact paper, so in order for her to understand it I must use symbols. I never realized how much humans rely on symbols to express their ideas. We, especially females, are constantly analyzing our lives and trying to find the best ways to navigate through them. Now that I know the secrete to being a supportive friend and symbolizer I will hopefully analyze and navigate my own life to its greatest potential!