Metaphor - Hypnotic
Story - Reframing
An Old Chinese Taoist Story
A very old Chinese Taoist story describes a farmer in a poor country village. His neighbors considered him very well-to-do. He owned a horse which he used for plowing and for transportation. One day his horse ran away. All his neighbors exclaimed how terrible this way, but the farmer simply said "Maybe."
A few days later the horse returned and brought two wild horses with it. The neighbors all rejoiced at his good fortune, but the farmer just said "Maybe."
The next day the farmer's son tried to ride one of the wild horses. The horse threw him and the son broke his leg. The neighbors all offered their sympathy for his misfortune, but the farmer again said "Maybe."
The next week conscription officers came to the village to take young men for the army. They rejected the farmer's son because of his broken leg. When the neighbors told him how lucky he was, the farmer replied "Maybe."
* * *
Let's analyze this. When the farmer's horse ran away, the neighbors grieved for the farmer's loss. However, when the horse returned with two wild horses, their grief changed into joy. But, then, when a wild horse threw his son so that he broke his leg, their joy turned into sorrow. What they felt as good news turned into bad news. When, the next week, the conscription officers came to draft young men, they rejected the son because of his broken leg, again, sadness turned into joy. The arrival of the conscription officers changed the context of the broken leg so that what they had viewed as a handicap, they now viewed as a blessing. The change of context changed the meaning. And all the while, the old farmer held back from making such quick (and inadequate) judgments - so his emotions didn't bounce all over the place as did those of his neighbors!
This story enables us to appreciate the importance of context, or frames, and that meaning truly does not lie in words, actions, stimuli, etc., but in the evaluative understanding of a meaning- maker. Meaning operates as a function of context. The villagers seemed to ready to jump into a frame and let it determine their meanings and emotions. The wise old man didn't behave in such a semantically reactive way.
In the story, we kept experiencing a rapid shifting between frames - so that "the meaning" of the events also quickly kept changing. When the frame of the son's broken leg changed, the meaning changed. When we change a frame, we transform meaning.
ref. Mind-Lines
go to Metaphors - Hypnotic Stories page
go to Hypnotic Language page
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Giorgio, www.hypnosis-kids.com
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