My latest battle with the after effects of a series of taumatic brain incidents (ruptured blood vessel in a brain tumor, subsequent surgery to remove tumor, 4 tonic-clonic seizures) is a decline in my ability to think deductively, analytically, quantitatively or sequentially and a tendency to think about everything in terms of metaphors, analogies or pictures. In searching for something that I couldn’t find , I came across this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DachRQNBGP8&feature=related that I believe expresses the real meaning of some very common words. I also don’t think that you have to live in a metaphoric world to appreciate its message. Grab a Kleenex box before watching it. Some of the pictures will make you laugh, others will make you cry. But that’s life.
Real Meaning of Words
Posted on October 16, 2011
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FindingStrengthToStandAgain
October 18, 2011
I truly believe that even in a metaphoric world honesty, trust, honor and hope can still be held and completely understood. You continue to show us all inspiration, and for that I am grateful. It is nice to see your return to the blogging world.
By Baylis β2
October 18, 2011
Thank you for your kind words. I have many more ideas running through my head. I hope to be much more active in the coming days.
Ann
December 13, 2011
Hi
I followed you from Princess Rea’s (BendedSpoon).
Thank you for sharing. You have both inspired and encouraged me.
I prayed for you.
Blessings,
ann
By Baylis β2
December 13, 2011
Ann,
thank you for your prayers. We never have too many prayers or people praying for us. I have started following your blog. As you mention prayer concerns on your blog, you may count on me praying for them.
By
Debbie
December 14, 2011
Dear Baylis, here also from sweet spoon’s blog (Bendedspoon) and am crying and blessed all at once. Thank you for blogging at this time, for the hope and inspiration you are sharing. Praying too as God blesses you for this special work.
By Baylis β2
December 14, 2011
Debbie,
Thank you for your comments and thank you for your the insights that you shared in your most recent postings. Only God can take our infirmities and make somehting good out of them. Prior to my TBI, I was very comfortable in my role in higher education. After the TBI and subsequent after effects, I have had the opportunity to meet via the electronic highway some people that I don’t think I would have ever met. I have also had the opportunity to discover a new world, the world of metaphors. Life in this new world has changed my total perspective on education. I knew that we learn by tying something new to something we already knew. However, I don’t think I realized how pervausive that principle really was. Although I was a fan of Aristotle because of his position on experiential education. I downplayed his thoughts about metaphors. I was more in the John Locke camp. Locke said that metaphors were the worst abuse of language and were outright cheats, because everyone knows that although Romeo declares that Juliet is his sun; Juliet can’t be the sun. However, because I lost my ability most of my ability to think analytically, sequentially and deductively, and found those processing skills replaced by metaphoric thinking, I thought I would linvestigate this metaphoric world a little more. What I found amazed me. More than 50% of the words we use everyday are or were metaphors at one point. I never thought about the word or concept of “truth” being a metaphor. Truth was conformity with reality. However, where did we get our English word “truth.” It came to us from an early Icelandic word that is also the ancestor of our words trust and troth (as in the wedding ceremony–I pledge my troth). In the Ancient Norse language, this ancestor our word ‘truth” meant “That which is to be believed.” DOes that give us a different spin on Christ’s statement that “He is the truth.” He is saying that he is to be believed. Our word “religion” is a metaphor. It comes to us from one Latin prefix “re” meaning “again” and “ligion” which is a descendant of the word “ligare” which meant connection. So religion is a metaphor for man’s reconnection with God. I can’t wait to find the next jewell hidden in our language in dormant or buried metaphors. Shalom and Blessings to you and yours. Merry Christmas.