Bruce Feiler, the Author of Life is in the Transitions and creator of the Life Story Project, asked 225 people he interviewed for his book and project: What image or symbol personifies your life’s journey? For me, it’s the spiral because my life path has always been in a continuous motion of change and growth (whether I like it or not).
I’ve always been drawn to the spiral. I remember picking up a nautilus shell at a beach shop twenty years ago. I saw something significant in the spiral shape and symmetry of the shell, something I couldn’t explain. When I started to build my author brand in 2021, I drifted back to the spiral which I included as a graphic on my website.
Out of curiosity, I dug into some research to learn more about this symbol. I found out it has existed across many cultures for thousands of years. According to the Symbols Archive, the spiral represents the consciousness of nature, starting from the center and expanding outwardly—the way of all things, according to mystics. The Triskele or Triple Spiral is one of the oldest symbols dating back to the ancient Celtic culture. They believed the triple spiral represented the cycles of life (birth, death, rebirth) as well as the Triple Goddess (maiden, mother, and wise woman).
In New Zealand, the Māori refer to this symbol as the koru, based on the shape of the unfurling fern frond. The koru is a symbol of creation with its circular shape that conveys the idea of perpetual movement and a return to the point of origin as signified by the inward coil. The koru symbolizes new beginnings, hope, rebirth, a new start, awakening, personal growth, a new phase in life, rejuvenation and peace, to name a few.
This symbol personifies my brand because when I recently retired to become a full-time writer, I wanted to mark this as a time of new beginnings for me, filled with good intentions, purpose, and following my bliss. What symbol best represents your life’s journey?
