After studying Lessons 13. 1 and 13.2, you’ll want to prepare for this assignment by carefully thinking about how you “view” conflict. Is it a “necessary evil”? Do you see it as something you’d rather “run from” or do you relish a “good fight”?
How do you approach a conflicting situation? Do you try to avoid it at all costs? Do you “come out swinging” with the attitude of “it’s my way or the highway”? Do you try to “accommodate” and “play nice” in most challenging scenarios?
You see, we often react to conflict or “deal with it” based on how we visualize it. So, take some time here to develop your perspective of “conflict”. Ask yourself, “how do I view conflict”? Can you distill your view to a single metaphoric statement?
If you’re not familiar with metaphor as a figure of speech, think about it as taking an abstract object or action and comparing it to a concrete concept, action, or object in order to clarify or better understand the first abstract thought or notion. You see, we want to clarify or identify hidden similarities between the two.
Basically, when we compare the abstract thought to a more concrete thought we understand it better…. we get a better grasp of the meaning. A metaphor however is not a definition it’s figurative language and it’s often quite eloquent and theatrical. For example, the phrase
“The eyes are the windows of the soul”
is an expressive and eloquent way to say that an individual’s eyes can help us see who they are as human beings. We can see a person’s emotional state or character by looking deep into their eyes. The eyes are not literally windows, but if you take the time to listen and look at someone deeply in conversation you may find out the essence of who they are as a human being. Another way to think of it could be “Kayla’s eyes are the windows of her soul.” We can see Kayla’s emotional state by looking into her expressive eyes.