WHY IS THE PHOENIX THE SYMBOL OF MOVE!?
by Sue Gustafson
The phoenix was an immortal bird. But its immortality came at a price.
When the phoenix felt itself growing old, it built a funeral pyre. Set it alight. Jumped into the flames. Burned alive.
From the flames, from the ashes, the new phoenix emerged: young, vibrant, triumphantly alive. But everything it had been an hour ago was ashes beneath it.
The phoenix was a popular symbol in the Middle Ages and Renaissance because it resonated deeply with the message of rebirth that the Christian church offered. And later, of course, the image of regeneration and renewal resonated with everybody. What set me thinking in terms of MOVE! is that change--the kind of transformational change many of us want so deeply and so rarely get to keep-- is hard. Really hard. Because we have to change. A small death. We have to give up cherished territory, cherished things, habits of a lifetime of thinking and being to get through that door. It's why, I think, the message has to be repeated so many times..... Because the road is long and hard and dark, and so often it feels as if there's nobody out there, or maybe we just heard the message wrong, and we're just stupid.
And hearing it--again-- for the n'th time, really matters.
by Sue Gustafson
The phoenix was an immortal bird. But its immortality came at a price.
When the phoenix felt itself growing old, it built a funeral pyre. Set it alight. Jumped into the flames. Burned alive.
From the flames, from the ashes, the new phoenix emerged: young, vibrant, triumphantly alive. But everything it had been an hour ago was ashes beneath it.
The phoenix was a popular symbol in the Middle Ages and Renaissance because it resonated deeply with the message of rebirth that the Christian church offered. And later, of course, the image of regeneration and renewal resonated with everybody. What set me thinking in terms of MOVE! is that change--the kind of transformational change many of us want so deeply and so rarely get to keep-- is hard. Really hard. Because we have to change. A small death. We have to give up cherished territory, cherished things, habits of a lifetime of thinking and being to get through that door. It's why, I think, the message has to be repeated so many times..... Because the road is long and hard and dark, and so often it feels as if there's nobody out there, or maybe we just heard the message wrong, and we're just stupid.
And hearing it--again-- for the n'th time, really matters.