By:Linda Sapadin
Janus, a mythological figure thousands of years old, seems to me to represent the very latest military strategy as America responds to the terrorist attacks.
Janus was the ancient Roman god of doors, gateways and good beginnings. The month of January is named after
Janus, hopefully a good augur for a new year. This mythological figure is depicted with two faces, each one looking out ahead in opposite directions.
Janus symbolizes going wide -- scanning your environment, gleaning what's out there, turning your eyes to a more extensive perspective, opening one door, closing another, thinking outside the box.
So it is with our response to terrorism. Instead of just "bombing the hell out of Afghanistan," the military is trying to make a
Janus response. Following the bombing, they are delivering air drops of food as well as leaflets explaining our actions and our goals. Bombs and food. Destruction and nourishment. Wreckage and sustenance. Divergent approaches to war.
Similarly, we need to adapt a
Janus perspective in other areas of life. Many of you are familiar with
Janus, the mutual fund family, who could do no wrong -- up until a year and a half ago. Indeed,
Janus prided itself on evaluating companies in innovative ways. Their own business headquarters is located in Denver, so as not to be overly influenced by Wall Street thinking. For quite some time they were flying high. However, when they became too convergent and fell in love with tech stocks, many of their mutual funds lost big time. It's not always easy to keep a
Janus perspective.
It's interesting to note that some words are considered
Janus words. These are words that mean opposite things in different contexts. They are so much a part of our language that we don't even notice when the same word has contradictory meanings. The word buckle (***buckle in italics) is one example. When I get into my car and buckle up, (***buckle up in italics) I am coupling two ends of a belt to achieve strength and togetherness (***strength and togetherness in italics). Things are quite the opposite when I buckle under pressure. (***buckle under pressure in italics) At that moment, I am collapsing, falling apart, giving way.(***collapsing, falling apart, giving way in italics)
In a pluralistic society, it is a good idea to model ourselves after
Janus, the god with two faces looking in different directions. Every time we move from our familiar and safe world, turning our heads to look at another perspective or listening to hear another viewpoint, we take a
Janus approach to life.
Some people do not find it easy to respectfully acknowledge differences. They become anxious and feel confused, threatened, overwhelmed. They quickly conclude that other lifestyles are wrong -- with their strange ways of thinking, odd ways of dressing, unconventional ways of speaking, unusual ways of acting. And yet, as we walk down the streets of New York City and even on Long Island, all we see are people who look, dress and speak in different ways. Do we have much choice in today's world to do anything but embrace a
Janus outlook on life?
Perhaps the opening episode of this season's The West Wing (***The West Wing in italics) articulated the message most succinctly. A presidential aide trying to explain the events of 9/11 to a group of high school kids said: "Remember pluralism. If you want to get these people, keep accepting more than one idea. It makes them absolutely crazy."
Linda Sapadin, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice who specializes in individual and family therapy as well as personal coaching.
Copyright 2001
