“Once you label me you negate
me.” ~ Sören Kierkegaard
Dear Friends,
Have you ever noticed how people, and maybe even yourself, need to label
stuff?
And did you also notice a huge relief when you got the label, diagnosis,
opinion, a second opinion even...? That feeling of elation, albeit for a short
time, when the label is given... It is a curious thing our need to label stuff,
and I couldn’t help but wonder why the need to label? Why do we crave it so
much, and what need or needs do we satisfy by labeling stuff, by giving it a
diagnosis if you like?!
And isn’t it a great feeling when you chat with someone and you both
arrive at the same labeling. A feeling of connection - that common labeling can
only happen when you share a worldview.
This need to label, very likely satisfies several needs. A deep bound need
to categorize reality in order to effectively handle it. Evolution is about
survival. Survival is about predicting and understanding what is going on.
Understanding is about labeling.
Once you have labeled a phenomena you know
how to deal with it. A label presupposes that you recognize the phenomena, it
is the same as some other phenomena.
Yet, there is a huge drawback. Once you have labeled phenomena, you
already think you know what you are dealing with. You essentially sacrifice
your ability to discover new things about what you have labeled. Perception
isn’t so much a matter of taking things in, as it is about projecting things
out. The brain projects its expectations onto the world around it, and matches
these expectations with the incoming stimuli.
And this is one of the dangers of which labeling is just the symptom.
Some people get stuck so far inside the label making factories of the brain
that no incoming stimuli ever reach them. At least nothing which would cause
them to update their understanding of reality. Political, religious, and
ideological fanatics, with readymade interpretations of whatever happens, come
to mind.
Even more interesting are labels when applied to people. Because if you
apply a label to yourself, you will not only interpret yourself in the terms of
the label, but your actions may also be affected by it. And worse: this may
even happen if you don’t agree with the label.
This may be the reason why Tao Te Ching starts with drawing up the
distinction between what is spoken about and what is said. The things that can
be said are not the things themselves. The road that can be described is not
the road travelled. Our description of the world is not the world.
The same
sentiment was repeated much later by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. The
thing-in-itself is not the same as the thing-for-me. And later still in the
tenets of NLP: the map is not the territory.
And the map may even limit one’s exploration of the territory. If
Christopher Columbus had believed the world was flat, he would have avoided
sailing towards the edge!
So with this in mind, may we invite you to start this week by exploring
what certain labels, names, mean to you? How appropriate are they for your
personal experience? Are they adding fragrance and richness to your life, or
are they being given and accepted by default? Do they help you sail to the edge
and beyond, or do they keep you running round in circles? Do they give you
extra wind in your wings?
It would be interesting to hear what you experience in your label exploration
journey :-)!
And remember, we are here for you!
Wishing you a wonderful week and sending you oceans of love,
Your label-free and free-flowing trainers,
Thomas and Lidija
Lidija Markovic– NLP Trainer (Classic & New Code)
Thomas Björge– NLP Trainer (Classic & New Code), NLP Coach
© Momentum Strategies 2013
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