The Search for Meaning

 

Caption: Staring at you or to the right (Online page)

URL: http://www.illusions.org/dp/confuse.jpg. Retrieved from http://www.illusions.org/dp/1-91.htm

“Huh?”, “what do you mean?”, “I’m confused”, “that’s crazy!”, “are you mad?”, “I will kill you!”

Ever caught yourself facepalming yourself, thinking that’s not what I meant at all or feeling completely misunderstood when you said something but it was misinterpreted? Looking at the above image a person might ask “do you see what I see?” Time and again our thoughts and feelings ae lost in translation to the world.

Perhaps you’ve known a teenager that said, “that’s not what I meant mom, why do you take things so literal?!” Meaning breaks down barriers and uncertainty, providing an open channel for communication with empathy. The psychiatrist Victor Frankyl reflects “for the meaning of life differs from person to person, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters…is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment” (Young, 2016, pg. 129). In other words, “Our emotional reaction is largely determined by the unique meanings we assign to the events of our lives” (Young, 2016, pg. 122).

In one country “turn up the door” is used to mean “close the door” or “plug out” instead of “unplug”. The word “unplug” may even refer to a person taking time away from the busyness of life. Phrases, words, and sentences connote different meanings. For the counselor-in-training learning to dig deeper by looking at underlying meanings or unspoken assumptions is important. Questions to consider include “why is this story important to the client? Why is he or she telling me this? What is it that bothers the client so much about the event?” (Young, 2016, pg. 131). The search for meaning is knowing not to assume but to simply, ASK.

Reference

Young, Mark E. (2016). Learning the art of helping: Building blocks and techniques 6^th edition. New York: Pearson Education.