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 into more empowering choices.
Meaning:
The meaning we're focused on is "ready to laugh": a state of playfulness and anticipation of a certain outcome. It transforms the high importance of something into a more enjoyable process that causes a feeling of ease and confidence.
Challenge:
One major challenge of using the word "anxiety" all the time is how heavy it is to carry around in your mind (which affects the body too). It keeps you in a rhythm of worry, which is really fear underneath it all. On top of that, health issues can arise the more we allow this word to zap away our power and energy.
Advantage:
One major advantage of using the phrase "ready to laugh" habitually is how light it is to carry around in your mind (which affects the body too). It sparks you into a rhythm of playfulness, which is really joy underneath it all. On top of that, health advantages can arise the more we allow this phrase to make us laugh.
Questions:
Anxiety:
Are you feeling too much anxiety these days? What usually triggers the anxiety you feel?
Ready to Laugh:
Whenever you feel high stress arising, could you condition yourself to laugh through it, with it, or even at it? What if you began gently giggling whenever you felt a high-stress trigger approaching?
Context:
There are times when "ready to laugh" doesn't feel or fit right; it seems off-key or misplaced, even inappropriate for a serious situation. If anxiety is persistent or overwhelming, please seek professional support.
The focus here is on how our habitual language patterns affect our perceptions and feelings and on committing to having more agency in our decisions. In other words: Am I "ready to laugh" at the moment so I can stay resilient and curious in finding an alternative way of perceiving the situation (or the person), or is "anxiety" the most appropriate word to use right now?
You decide based on the situation.
Your Creativity:
Maybe you don't like using "ready to laugh" to replace "anxiety" in your particular context.
What language pattern (choice of habitual word or 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
Meaning:
The meaning we're focused on is "ready to laugh": a state of playfulness and anticipation of a certain outcome. It transforms the high importance of something into a more enjoyable process that causes a feeling of ease and confidence.
Challenge:
One major challenge of using the word "anxiety" all the time is how heavy it is to carry around in your mind (which affects the body too). It keeps you in a rhythm of worry, which is really fear underneath it all. On top of that, health issues can arise the more we allow this word to zap away our power and energy.
Advantage:
One major advantage of using the phrase "ready to laugh" habitually is how light it is to carry around in your mind (which affects the body too). It sparks you into a rhythm of playfulness, which is really joy underneath it all. On top of that, health advantages can arise the more we allow this phrase to make us laugh.
Questions:
Anxiety:
Are you feeling too much anxiety these days? What usually triggers the anxiety you feel?
Ready to Laugh:
Whenever you feel high stress arising, could you condition yourself to laugh through it, with it, or even at it? What if you began gently giggling whenever you felt a high-stress trigger approaching?
Context:
There are times when "ready to laugh" doesn't feel or fit right; it seems off-key or misplaced, even inappropriate for a serious situation. If anxiety is persistent or overwhelming, please seek professional support.
The focus here is on how our habitual language patterns affect our perceptions and feelings and on committing to having more agency in our decisions. In other words: Am I "ready to laugh" at the moment so I can stay resilient and curious in finding an alternative way of perceiving the situation (or the person), or is "anxiety" the most appropriate word to use right now?
You decide based on the situation.
Your Creativity:
Maybe you don't like using "ready to laugh" to replace "anxiety" in your particular context.
What language pattern (choice of habitual word or 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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