[016] Seeing Semiotics
Weekly Articles Sending Positive Messages Into Negative Spaces
Marumarum is a publication focused on sending Positive Messages Into Negative Spaces.
We share biweekly, brief articles on a variety of topics aiming to shed light on a new aspect of life.
-Parker at Marum
[016] Seeing Semiotics
What colors and shapes do you see right now? Whether in our homes, at work, at school, or in common social places, we are surrounded by shapes, colors, sounds, and movements that carry some sort of meaning. For example, when we smell smoke we know there's a fire somewhere or when we see a yellow solid line on the ground we know passing is prohibited while driving.
We likely don’t have to think about all of these responses because we have been taught what these signs, shapes, and actions mean through life experiences. This back-and-forth communication between shapes, sounds, and our senses is known as semiotics. Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and how we interpret these symbols.
“Semiotics, put simply, is the study of how an idea or object communicates meaning — and what meaning it communicates. For example, “coffee” is a brewed beverage, but it also evokes comfort, alertness, creativity and countless other associations” -Stephen Gosset here
Our mind, body, emotions, work, soul, objects, and nature all send out different types of communication through, for example, signs, sounds, and messages. So, it becomes our job to translate these different forms of communication into their messages.
But as we age we often stick with the messages we have learned from earlier on in life; only adapting when necessary. Maybe we busy ourselves and ignore new messages, maybe we are not equipped to understand the signs, maybe we just accept past messages as absolutes, or maybe we try to listen and see for new signs but end up failing.
This potentially volatile, yet natural for us all, change in our life allows us to stick with our forms of communication for understanding signs, sights, and symbols without asking us to reconsider the language we use, how we use it, and if there are any more signs or symbols we should learn to understand.
The study of semiotics is common for visual designers because they create signs that relay information to viewers. But why don’t we use this way of thinking when observing different cultures, our homes, our body language, or our emotions?
We might hint at it or use that basic understanding of semiotics without knowing it, but wisdom comes when defined words are arranged into complete thoughts, allowing us to create pockets of the information under like terms. But to then use and reuse this understanding we have to effectively share our sometimes unique forms of language and understanding of the sign or symbol. This adds an immense amount of complexity to understanding others’ languages as individuals act independently within a society of similar norms.
It’s no wonder emotions are so difficult to share and understand because even though we all have similarly named emotions, what we see, hear, and experience is filtered through our unique sending and receiving system for understanding signs. Another reason emotions are tricky is that there is no requirement in life that asks us to grow our understanding of our emotions. In fact, it’s socially accepted and practiced to shove our emotions or number them out so that we don’t have to deal with them.
So when we try to share our unique language of how we understand our emotions (which we likely don’t even fully understand) with people who don’t know the same signs or symbols we do, how do we feel after? We feel burned, confused, defeated, and discouraged because our language of communicating signs, symbols, and experiences is not yet compatible.
We likely abandon learning new ways to communicate with the signs, sounds, actions, and messages all around us because at some point we believed: what's the point, what's my problem, etc. Because of this, we stick with what we know because we are likely short on time or don’t want to put the energy forth so inevitably age with our learned forms of understanding (language) that we should adopt but likely don’t.
We might become physically and mentally exhausted when we don’t understand the signs of our emotions. We might have to seek medical help for physical signs that are there yet we ignore them. We lose track of our priorities and stop seeking out how we might improve our communication with signs and languages in our communities, at work, or in digital spaces.
The great news is there are resources built by experts on their specific forms of communication that relay information through visuals, written and spoken words, and so on for us to reflect on. Whether we do 5 minutes of work or 50 days of work, we can reteach ourselves to understand the signs around us better. Maybe we need a mentor, a therapist, a friend, a pet, a breakthrough, or a day off. Whatever it may be, the least we should do is spend a few minutes today thinking about an area of life we want to expand.
Need a place to start?
Book: Try Softer and/or Strong Like Water by Aundi Kolber
Goal: see how you can add margin to your days (read our last article here)
Make a speaking list. List all the people you talk to including yourself. What types of conversations are they? Ask ourselves, what area do I need help talking about? What areas can I better understand?
Book: Atomic Habits
🥀 Thanks, Nature: Beets
This earthy yet semi-sweet vegetable has been used for health purposes since the Greeks. Commonly used in salads, soups, or as a detoxifying juice, beets are a root vegetable that must be cooked before consuming its bulb-like body. Being a nutrient-dense vegetable with a low caloric value makes beets a great addition to any meal if the dirt-like taste can be compensated. Beets make a great natural dye as the juice from beets stains just about anything unless cleaned. How will you use beets?
Learn more about beets here, here, and here.
🪨 Weekly Rocks
Weekly Rocks are reminders of significance meant to support and build the foundation of who we are becoming and being. In this space, you will find quotes, articles, links, ideas, and more.
[+] Ever heard of Bentoism? Bentoism.com is an interactive website that teaches us to learn “A wider view of self-interest” about ourselves.
[+] Article by Folly Coffee in Minneapolis, MN: What’s the difference between espresso beans and coffee beans?
[+] “Our capacity to destroy one another is matched by our capacity to heal one another.” from this article.
🎨 Creative Resources
[+] Learn how to make Mockups by Bendito mockups by Spanish photographer Toni Kuraga.
[+] Text to Morse Code Translator. Simple as that.
[+] Shantell Sans free Google font by the great Shantell Martin.
Marum Resources:
[+] Are.na
By reading this article we hope you have the opportunity to have insight into something new in life. Thank you for reading!
Marum Studios: Sending Positive Message into Negative Spaces
Missed last week’s article?
[015] Doubling Down
![[015] Doubling Down](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1300,h_650,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3956b4b2-cdc5-4ab7-818b-773f335bfbfd_1456x1040.png)
Every new, delightful, and dreadful day of life presents us with the opportunity to fail, suffer, and concede. The incessant mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional opportunities that we frequently and begrudgingly face cause us to waver under the weight of being human. It’s at this point of difficulty we find the opportunity to either back down or d…