True Self

T – The shape of Tarot’s Hanged Man’s cross, the sacrifice for wisdom, the shape of the Greek letter tau, which sounds like Lao Tzu’s Tao, the Way, the walk towards Truth. 

R – Regret, rueing past times, and running away from the Truth, then catching myself, realizing that running away from the Truth is only running toward future regret.

U – Sounds like “you”, looks like a big smile or a cup with which to receive a drink, to quench a thirst. 

E – Sounds like part of a laugh, tee-hee, looks like a comb with which to disentangle the knots in life.

S – Snake-like, snakes on Hermes’ caduceus, the ancestors’ symbol of healing inspired by the snake’s ability to slough off an old skin and grow a new one. Recovery is like this: growing a new sense of self within new boundaries between the world and me. 

E – The note that forms the first chord, the first harmonic with Middle C. 

L – The first letter of love, a four-letter word, a force of nature, a noun and a verb. 

F – Found. Once I was lost and now I’m found.

Christine O