I: Self

Etymology: The origin of this symbol and spectrum

This was actually the first Rose symbol that morphed into meaning for me. As a teenager, my Rose code and my Rose journal was all about me—exploring the layers upon layers of my life, like unfolding a rose. So the word “I” came up a lot. And of course, in English, an “I” by itself is very easy to crack. The only other letter/word that we have like that is “a”, which is not capped in the middle of a sentence. (For in the early days, I would not let go of capitalization.) So, this stood out like a sore thumb. Indeed, once someone grabbed a notebook paper where I had been writing things like “How can I fit in with the crowd? Why can’t I just do what everyone else does?” and they said, well, this must be “I” and so these are questions about you, and… well, let’s just say I was so used to the teasing that I don’t remember the specifics used in this case. Only that I knew I had to change my symbol. So I reserved the “I” for things outside of myself and came up with something that simply meant “I.” My first “aha” moment—that letters could be imbued with shades of meaning in and of themselves.

Then I met the love of my life. She loved the Rose code, loved that I entrusted her with it. And I wanted to show her part of my life, that we were partners—we worked together almost as one. So I developed a symbol that looked like we were one person, stretching out two arms.

Orthography: How to remember these symbols

(Looking back, this can be too close to e future, so you do have to be a bit careful to keep the arms down on the body—not at the top. And the future line on the e has to start at the top—for the future begins with the present.

Philosophy: How I use these symbols to embrace life

The “I” outside has arms outstretched wide. I draw back and forth along that line, thinking, how can I embrace the world? How can the world be open to me?

The “I” for my love and I is an entangled pair of arms,a nd I draw and retrace this figure, thinking about the closeness of a relationship, one that lets you act in partnership and unity. If you have an “in group” like this in your life, you are wonderfully blessed. If you do not, think about ways you could reach out to others to create this type of teamwork.

The “I” for myself is a private moment. When I want to look into myself, I’ll draw this line as a backbone, and the legs as sitting, and think, ok. I can sit and be alone with myself for a bit.