Ideate.

The power of symbols is often misunderstood, and more often than not, misrepresented in an essentially simplistic manner that speaks nothing of its immense capabilities. A symbol is more than a metaphor: a metaphor can only function as the subject wants to, the metaphor itself giving in to be a mere mirror the image borne in which is redundant but for the need to understand. A symbol is an image of the thought itself, a symbol is an idea. Ideas are the birth of revolutions, and ideas supplanted with ideal communication can give rise to a sociopolitical system wherein the society recognises, unmistakably, what it needs, and the politicial system, the means to provide for those needs. An idea is the recognition of the need for construction, the need to grow, the need to understand, the need to tolerate, the need to believe, and ultimately as well as inevitably the need to trust. When the idea is expressed, it conjures a mask as if delivering identity to the expressor, which it does, and the mask is a symbol of the expression’s beliefs. Ideas, however, are very large in number, and the effective communication of them so as to invoke a majority, a recognisable shout amidst the vox populi, is difficult. Ideas vary. What they vary about is anybody’s guess; they are born from morals, values, beliefs, faiths, nativity, social behaviour, the environment and the way in which the person concerned takes to the world in general. Ideas are miniscule, and are therefore quickly ignored. The one good idea flickering for a moment as hope peeking out of Pandora’s box has to be identified and seized as if it were a chance, for you know not when such an idea will be born again. It is your discretion that will serve as the utmost authority in nursing ideas that suit your needs – that, in other words, comply with the activities which concur with the fortification of your skills on whose employment you have what you need, but not necessarily that you have what you want.  

The ability to ideate indicates the ability to evolve. The normality with which we conform in order to establish a routine in our lives, so as to determine the nature of our existence itself, has to be subjected to change so we, the constituent living units that collectively define the normality, can identify that change and thereby, recognise and utilise the idea of progress. The momentum generated by this progression could be made widespread, as a revolution trigger-employed to bring in fresher ideas as well as to sustain the chain, the end goal of which is indicated clearly by the element whence the idea was inspired and the need of the individual. In order to do so, we use the symbolisation of ideas. Although an idea dwells in the mind of one person, at most a group of people who think alike, a symbol is universal. A symbol retains in its perception its very own history, its design and its purpose. A symbol is transcendental in that it reaches beyond the barriers that society has to offer – it bears an innate meaning that is understood as the same by even the different. For example, even though the concept of love assumes different forms in different peoples, the Taj Mahal is understood as being a symbol of love by all. It is in this transcending skill that an idea in one man’s head exposes itself as a tool of change. Blowing up the Taj Mahal, say, will, for a few, will be the loss of a wonderful piece of architecture, but for everyone else, the act itself will speak of an idea that is going against love. Just as we are identified by our ideas, the idea itself is given form and tangibility in actions when it speaks through symbols. 

This is the fundamental footing of semiotics. Through the novel he writes, the author symbolises his ideas in the form of characters, plots and the associated imagery, and the reader understands them by interpreting them for himself. Without having to write that the woman sitting in the corner of the room was sad, the author can place her in darkness, and develop a colouring and mood that contrasts with the rest of the room. Although it is hard to explain why the portrayal has so-so effects on us and not in any other way, it can be understood that the conveyance of ideas becomes easiest when they each are depicted as symbols.