O: Good and Bad

Etymology: The origin of this symbol and spectrum

I wanted a simple stop sign that alerted me to catastrophic thinking, to potentially bad situations. Thus, the “o” became a box which was negative, that this was not where I wanted to be. It is a dark space for me.

So I wanted to rope in the sun, to capture it as just that loop in the middle. For to me, sunlight is good and darkness bad. This is troubling for Springlea, the publisher, as she is a night owl, truly waking up in the dark and feeling the night as a silent energy. What is good and bad for one may not be the same for another. Yet, we all make this basic dichotomy—positive and beneficial—that which gives us energy and helps us grow, and negative and malignant—that which saps our energy and keeps us from achieving our dreams.

Orthography: How to remember these symbols

“O” negative has square edges, a closed box, to seal something off from my life The crossing outin the “o” negative box and the loop in the “o” positive work the same way that the crossing out and the circle on the line in "v" work—circling in something desired and valued, while crossing out something to be discarded, to be let go.

Philosophy: How I use these symbols to embrace life

The crossing outin the box stamps rejected, not what I want in my life, and in contrast, the loop in the line lassoes in what I want, what I desire in my life.

In "o" positive, I make a large doodle of “o” positive and put in the middle of the loop all the things I desire, that I think are good.

In "o" negative, I imagine the crossing out what I do not want, what I see as negative.