Malleability

At a garden park I recently visited, there were several sculpted metal figurines placed in a circle on the lawn. The figures showed a variety of positions a person could take in defending oneself in one of the martial arts, perhaps Jujitsu. I don't really know if there was symbolism with the figures being placed in a circle or with the positions of the figures, but I saw some parallelism with the figures and the way life is.

Life happens to a person in such a way so as to force him or her to develop a rhythm of positions to take while trying to figure life out, defending against some of its developments, or making plans to be more assertive to overcome some of the holes it puts one in. The shape helps one see how (s)he has mapped out the circular nature of her or his added or repeated responses. And the sculptures being metal show how rigid those responses become.

While this is psychologically protective, I think our responses to life should show a certain malleability. We do have to form a view of life and place our experiences within that view, but the view does not have to be narrow. It should broaden horizons and aid us in following what we deem best for ourselves.