What is a word? The representation of a nerve-stimulus in sound . . . The different languages . . . designate only the relations of things to humans, and appropriate the most audacious metaphors to help express them. A nerve-stimulus, in the beginning figured into an image! First metaphor. The image then imitated in a sound! Second metaphor. And every time, a leap beyond one sphere into the midst of one which is entirely other and new.
Friedrich Nietzsche, "On Truth and Lie in an Extra-moral Sense" (1873/2019), pp. 4-5.
Language can be so tricky, especially because finding connection within the vast diversity of human expression requires nuanced and often risky efforts of translating across realms of difference. I found some of these words while writing up my graduate research in communication ecology and environmental studies with reference to the work of Marisol de la Cadena. Because communicating meaningfully across language barriers, cultural complexities, and identity differences can be so challenging, this service is my way of cultivating space for normalizing the process.
Earth Beings: Ecologies of Pratice Across Andean Worlds
While I currently only speak and write fluently in English, through my communication research I have spent significant time analyzing English idioms and metaphors to understand and express how they operate. This provides me with some awareness to help clients orient to the complexity of communication differences and find ways of relating to others across challenging divides. This service is especially intended for non-native English speakers.
Through this service, I endeavor to create safe spaces for exploring and playing with language with the aim of fostering increasing comfort with the unique peculiarities of English which can feel notoriously nonsensical. The process can involve reviewing lists of words and phrases my clients have gathered to collaboratively identify meanings and uses. Where desired, it can also involve real-time practice hearing my intentional use of idioms and metaphors to develop intuition with receiving and responding to what can feel like confusing culturally-inflected messages. My hope is that this leads to a sense of empowerment by cultivating ease and confidence over time.
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