One other tool from the classroom that has always made a great deal of personal sense to me actually involves a therapeutic metaphor that is certainly not of my creation. It is intended for many of us (I am sure) who go around with a great deal of personal armor. We have all been through some rough times, particularly in our childhood, and to survive, we had to create some armor to protect our self from harm both psychologically and spiritually. We were so smart in building this armor – and the more the assault we faced, the heavier and more impenetrable this armor became. But we do grow up and for most of us our world does become better; we are more in control of our world. But some of us still travel with this armor.
I walk so heavy though my days barely having enough strength to make it to the night’s sleep. A friend walks up to me and says, “Someone needs to tell you, my friend, to take off this armor – hasn’t anyone told you that the war is over?
I loved this quote and had my students look at the armor that was worn by characters in the story and the magical moment when someone or something helped them remove this armor and allow us the audience to experience those first few moments free of this weight. Using this metaphor, you can certainly find some very exciting and meaningful moments in a person – or character’s journey.
Now where did I leave my breastplate?