Feeling ‘stuck’ or ‘back here again’? How the spiral can support us in our process and progress

‘The path isn’t a straight line; it’s a spiral. You continually come back to things you thought you understood and see deeper truths.’ Barry H. Gillespie

In the final hours of 2022, I sat on the top of a hill in New Zealand with my sister and sister-in-law; sat, to be precise, within the ‘Basket of Dreams’. The piece of artwork (that you can see above) had been created by a local artist, Caroline Robinson accompanied by her words (see image below).

As we sat there, tears unexpectedly flowed. I’ve never before connected so deeply with a piece of artwork and its meaning.

As well as the phenomenal beauty of the space and being with two women whom I loved, it was not surprising that I found it emotional. There is one symbol that I connect with above all else, that strikes a chord deep within me when I sit with it: that of the spiral. The complexity and, at once, simplicity of it is something that I return to time and again, both with myself and with my clients.

I first connected with the spiral in my own counselling sessions and later developed my connection with it through my coaching trainings and work. The call of the symbol create the spaces to move inwards towards ourselves is a powerful on for me.

The symbolism of the spiral is found within many cultures around the world, representing variously the changes of life unfolding, the winding journeys we take inwards and the expansions outwards. We see it reflected in Buddhism, shamanism, Celtic mythology. It exists throughout the natural world, in birds’ flight, in shells, in the growth of plants, in wave patterns; we see it within our own bodily structures.

The idea that life moves in spirals, that we return again and again to a thing, each time bringing with us more experience, greater wisdom holds so much potency for us in our creativity, in our relationship to self and our relationship to each of our experiences.

This sits in contradiction to the capitalistic, patriarchal idea that progress is linear, and that we fail not only if we do not make swift progress along this ‘line’ but also if we find ourselves ‘back’ somewhere. In its relentless pursuit of endless growth, the post-industrial capitalist system does not have space for returning, for re-imagining, for ebb and flow or allowance for the less-tangible, non-profitable inner work.

The spiral teaches us that these cycles are not only okay, but inevitable and necessary. Sure, there’s great value in noticing if we are simply repeating entrenched, unhelpful patterns without gaining awareness or learning ways that we might shift them as we need to. And, essentially, this process itself is not linear, within this sit spirals of experience. We need to return for a reason, to see the place again with slightly different eyes, with additional knowledge and experiences within us.

I find myself working regularly with the pattern in myself and in others of chastising ourselves if we feel ‘back here again’, or ‘not as far along the line as I should be’.

We can often find ourselves in a place that seems familiar and question why we’re there. There can be a tendency to feel frustration at the fact that we’ve been there before, especially if it’s not a place we feel we want to be, and to be hard on ourselves. ‘Why am I here again?’; ‘Am I never going to change this?’; ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this again’, for example.

If you find yourself in that place, I invite you to take a moment to breathe, and to allow in the symbol of the spiral: to see yourself within this alternative perspective. I wonder if this could allow in a little softening towards the frustration? Perhaps an opportunity to place your experience within a wider context?

Just as when we alter our perspective in other ways, for example widening the lens by moving upwards and taking an eagle’s view on what is happening, the spiral can support us in moving out of the ‘trenches’, out of the granular and towards seeing ourselves and our experience as part of something bigger. This can help to invite in compassion and curiosity.

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I wonder if this has resonated with you? I would love to hear what the spiral means to you, or how this has landed with you.