Label Making
Monday, January 14th 2008 @ 9:38 AM (not yet rated)
Label Making
Monday, January 14th @ 9:25 AMpost viewed 11 times
Just imagine that you carried a label maker around with you all day and printed out labels that said: Not Good Enough, Too Fat, Pretty, Boring, Bad Hair, Lazy, Difficult, Smart, Stupid, Strange, etc. Suppose you took some of those labels and stuck them on someone you met. Now when you see that person you remember the label you gave them and tell other people about the label. Everyone treats that person like their label and that person starts to live into the label, acting out what everyone is projecting. You already know this because it has happened to you many times in your life.
When I was in first grade my teacher thought I was smart and told my parents. I made A’s. My mother told me that I was stupid and she even had a special slang for it. She would call me a stupe-nagel, whatever that was. I actually googled it yesterday and on three websites the definition is: “Complete idiot, variation of stupe, but used with added emphasis, especially by my mother.” Crazy isn’t it? Special mom label to make you feel bad. How could I make good grades and be a stupe-nagel? I don’t blame her and realized later in life that her words were a reflection of her own feelings of not being good enough. In her day there were no self help books or support groups like Buzzen to have the awareness of words and what they can do.
I remember thinking at the time…. “I am not a stupe-nagel; she is stupid for saying that.” It’s like a mirror reflecting back. So mom says I’m stupid and I think she’s stupid and I start labeling at around 6 years old. That’s how labels come full circle and pass from generation to generation. Kids learn to get out their own label maker and start the process.
We are label making beings. We accept without question the words that others use to describe us. And our mind chatter (i.e., The Funky Monkey or ego) will automatically take us to the negative. This is the core of a lot of self-esteem issues -- especially for women. Let someone say we are putting on weight and watch the Funky Monkey drag us down screaming “It must be true or they wouldn’t have said it!” But is it really true?
One of the games we play in the Buzzen Box is the Reframe Game. For instance when you look at the label “Crazy” you can reframe the meaning because Crazy like a fox is a good thing, right? Crazy fun is good. It can mean what you make it mean. Fat can be reframed as “you are voluptuous and desirable and loving life.” We all know women like this who have a joie de vivre, a love of life and a freedom because they are who they are. You don’t have to keep any label you are given…just peel it off and leave it along the side of the road!
What labels are you willing to leave behind today? We would love for you to share your thoughts with us all. Simply post your comments in the Member’s Forum in The Hive:
http://www.igroops.com/igroops/buzzen/comm/CATEGORYLIST P.S. You can post your thoughts about anything in the Members Forum. Testimonials, questions, and insights are welcome anytime!
Donna Fleetwood, Beekeeper Coach
