This VAW was created by Christopher von Spitzer. www.christophervonspitzer.com X: @letsaskqqs https://linktr.ee/cvspitzer
A metamorphosist: Someone with the awareness and agency to creatively decide when to transform disempowering habitual language patterns to more empowering choices.
Meanings:
Avoid:
According to Merriam-Webster, to avoid something means "to keep away from" or to shun it.
Freedom to Move On:
According to Merriam-Webster, freedom means the quality or state of being free. For move on, it means to go on to a different place, subject, activity, etc. So, freedom to move on means to be free in a decision about whether you want to go somewhere else or be with others.
Challenge:
One challenge of using the word "avoid" consistently regarding others' behavior is that it keeps the focus on what happened to us or to others in a disempowering light (that might be based on false assumptions). It gives us or others no power because our attention is on what we can't control.
Advantage:
One major advantage of using the phrase freedom to move on more frequently is that it focuses on what happened to us or to others in an empowering light. Because our attention is focused on what we can control, it gives us or others power—if we decide to engage with them.
Questions:
Avoid...
When you focus on what you can’t control, how do you usually feel?
Freedom to Move On:
When you focus on what you can control, how do you most likely feel?
Context:
There are times when you can't just have the freedom to move on easily—maybe you want to influence those who "avoid," or there is something you genuinely need to improve upon yourself. The focus here is on our language patterns affecting our perceptions and feelings, and committing to having more agency in our decisions. In other words: do I have the freedom to move on, and if so, should I? If not, what can I or others start doing?
Your Creativity:
Maybe you don't like using freedom to move on to replace "avoid" for your particular context. What language pattern (choice of habitual word/phrase) might you use instead?
Warning:
The intention is not to devalue an experience someone has gone through (or is going through) that has caused (or is causing) bottled-up negative emotions.
Since *research shows that language can affect our emotional state, the real outcome is to give you creative choices.
In other words, to replace an English word or phrase you habitually use that gets you into a disempowering emotional state (because of the particular experience/memory/context) with a word or phrase that helps you get into an empowering emotional state (utilizing the power of perception), thus interrupting the negative emotional pattern and giving you more agency to decide how you will move forward.
-Christopher
*Brooks, J. A., Shablack, H., Gendron, M., et al. (2017). The role of language in the experience and perception of emotion: A neuroimaging meta-analysis. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12(2), 169–183. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsw121
Meanings:
Avoid:
According to Merriam-Webster, to avoid something means "to keep away from" or to shun it.
Freedom to Move On:
According to Merriam-Webster, freedom means the quality or state of being free. For move on, it means to go on to a different place, subject, activity, etc. So, freedom to move on means to be free in a decision about whether you want to go somewhere else or be with others.
Challenge:
One challenge of using the word "avoid" consistently regarding others' behavior is that it keeps the focus on what happened to us or to others in a disempowering light (that might be based on false assumptions). It gives us or others no power because our attention is on what we can't control.
Advantage:
One major advantage of using the phrase freedom to move on more frequently is that it focuses on what happened to us or to others in an empowering light. Because our attention is focused on what we can control, it gives us or others power—if we decide to engage with them.
Questions:
Avoid...
When you focus on what you can’t control, how do you usually feel?
Freedom to Move On:
When you focus on what you can control, how do you most likely feel?
Context:
There are times when you can't just have the freedom to move on easily—maybe you want to influence those who "avoid," or there is something you genuinely need to improve upon yourself. The focus here is on our language patterns affecting our perceptions and feelings, and committing to having more agency in our decisions. In other words: do I have the freedom to move on, and if so, should I? If not, what can I or others start doing?
Your Creativity:
Maybe you don't like using freedom to move on to replace "avoid" for your particular context. What language pattern (choice of habitual word/phrase) might you use instead?
Warning:
The intention is not to devalue an experience someone has gone through (or is going through) that has caused (or is causing) bottled-up negative emotions.
Since *research shows that language can affect our emotional state, the real outcome is to give you creative choices.
In other words, to replace an English word or phrase you habitually use that gets you into a disempowering emotional state (because of the particular experience/memory/context) with a word or phrase that helps you get into an empowering emotional state (utilizing the power of perception), thus interrupting the negative emotional pattern and giving you more agency to decide how you will move forward.
-Christopher
*Brooks, J. A., Shablack, H., Gendron, M., et al. (2017). The role of language in the experience and perception of emotion: A neuroimaging meta-analysis. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12(2), 169–183. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsw121
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