# Label Danger

By [jer979](https://paragraph.com/@jer979-2) · 2025-06-11

---

We see something and call it “good” or “bad.”

We feel something and call it “happiness” or “sadness” or whatever.

We’re taught from a very early age to label things, to call them by their name.

“Spoon.” “Fork.” “Dog.” “Cat.”

These labels help us, of course.

But they hold us back.

As soon as we label something, we don’t just have an idea of what it is, but we’ve immediately set a fence around what it isn’t.

When dealing with something new, like trying to explore the depths of our soul and experience emotions simply as they are, the temptation to label, for me, at least, is overwhelming.

I want, almost need, to put a tag on it of some sort.

But I also don’t want to.

I’m in uncharted territory and what’s here isn’t like what I’ve seen before.

So, while I label, almost immediately, I feel incredibly frustrated that I keep doing it.

I feel like I’m on the the threshold of something new, a new way to engage with the world. Sense it in my stomach, but I’m scared of diving in. So, I seek refuge in the label, which makes it familiar and thus feel “safe.”

But it’s not safety I want, even though my mind is telling me it is.

Somehow, when things appear unsafe, but we know we need to do them (for whatever reason), we have to find a way to elevate above the mind…and then let go.

Surrender.

As Doe Paoro sings, “all my life is a ceremony.”

---

*Originally published on [jer979](https://paragraph.com/@jer979-2/label-danger)*