Transformational Groups and Language

June 13, 2013 — 1 Comment

I am in a chat group with some people who have been to est training or the Landmark Forum, but I have not done that. I enjoy their point of view, but am amused by much of the jargon. Recently somebody in that group asked if others had alienated others with special transformational language. I had to laugh and think of what my own transformational groups and languages have been:

• childhood neighbors
• early childhood school friends
• summer camp buddies
• petroleum camp amigos from Venezuela
• high school choir and drama students
• hippies
• spa bunnies
• swimmers
• vegetarians
• Swiss

There are sub groups,but these are the majors.  I have recently been united with my early childhood neighbors and school friends, one of whom went to summer camp with me.  I have also gotten in touch with many old friends and neighbors who lived in San Tomé, Venezuela in the early 1960’s.  This mostly bilingual group has a language and a culture that is unique.  I am not in contact with any high school or college friends, but a small group with whom I worked in a theater company in Cherokee, NC in 1968 has been drawn together through social media.  The hippies, spa bunnies, swimmers, and vegetarians all switch places and morph into the current culture.  I know a few of each group from the past.  I stay in touch with Swiss friends, although I have not visited for a few years now.

The language, slang, and meaning of these transformational groups imprint on us as individuals, and as a collective groupthink.  We share memories that fit together like jigsaw puzzles.  In the last month I have been amazed to learn some of the things my elementary classmates remember about me, and what I know about them.  The past plays back like a very funny movie, missing lots of dialog and motive.  What seemed insignificant is memorable, and what was important at the time has lost   significance. We do have a thread of common language, and some common ideas.  Although we may no longer be a group who hangs out in real life, we somehow are still transforming each other. Even learning about the death of some of our old comrades shakes the foundation of mortality, the ultimate transformation.