by Dianne Lobes

Created on: September 12, 2008   Last Updated: November 21, 2008

A spiral is a beautiful and dynamic swirl that can help you find your life's purpose if you follow its turns long enough.

There are spiral icons in nearly every cultural tradition; there are spirals in nature (seashells); there are spirals in physics (fractals). Their beauty is a tip-off that something integral is happening here and, as with all things beautiful, we are drawn in to look for a long time. It takes a while to peel back all the layers and truly comprehend its purpose. We are moved by spirals. They're a great metaphor for life - beautiful, mysterious, seemingly simple, but then not so much sometimes.

I well remember an article that my grad school mentor gave me (though I can't find it now 25 years later) that featured a wonderful spiral representing development through life. Having doodled spirals all my life, I will readily draw a spiral for clients and explain that as we circle AROUND issues in our life, we also move HIGHER in our understanding of the issue (if we're paying attention) and from an INNER to an OUTER to an INNER view of the problem. There's a lot going on. Seemingly simple, but then not so much sometimes.

This movement is affected by our closest relationships, which the spiral can also symbolize. When we feel very close to our spouse, partner or family, we easily become interwoven into their viewpoints and projects, and we may almost completely lose sight of our own. Intimacy is absorbing and natural, and it feels wonderful to immerse yourself into a loved one's trials and triumphs. You say Yes a lot, look into eyes a lot, and laugh a lot at others' antics, and it feels wonderful. Your own life's purpose may become lost in all this pleasure, yet Time, and your outer journey on the spiral, move on.

Then, at some point, your head suddenly pops up and away from the object of your affection, usually in response to some painful life happening which often involves same loved one. You look around, squinting, with the sun in your eyes, and realize you're not sure what you're doing right now. You find yourself staring at people, studying them, doing some comparisons, looking for familiar cues which, thank goodness, you usually find, though it may take a while. Things have changed though: You used to have a very cohesive, if subconscious, view of things, and now you're seeing life consciously from a different vantage point that's rather startling in its newness. Who am I, and what AM I doing here?

That's the cue that it's time to move inward on

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>