Undisruptable

4The Ouroboros: Infinity Curve

‘Out of perfection nothing can be made. Every process involves breaking something up. The earth must be broken to bring forth life. If the seed does not die there is no plant. Bread results from the death of wheat. Life lives on lives. Our own life lives on the acts of other people. If you are lifeworthy, you can take it’.

— Joseph Campbell

One night I had a disturbing dream of a snake swallowing its own tail. Whenever I have a dream or idea, I send them to an email address I keep solely for ideas. Several days later, I checked this ‘ideas inbox’ and one subject line jumped out amidst the rest. ‘Snake swallowing own tail’, it read. After several seconds, it came back to me, ‘Oh yeah, what was that about?’, I pondered. When I researched what it could possibly mean, I was buzzing with excitement. I had dreamed a perfect symbol to represent the permanent reinvention mindset. What’s more, this symbol fits perfectly with the S curve, before I describe how, let’s first explore the symbol known as the ouroboros.

The ouroboros is an ancient symbol often represented by a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The ouroboros features in many ancient civilisations, including Egypt, Greece and Norse mythology. The word ouroboros originates from Greek and means ‘tail eater’ or ‘tail devourer’. Many of us consider the snake to be a symbol of evil, but the ouroboros is actually a symbol for eternal, cyclical renewal or a cycle of life, death and rebirth. Psychiatrist ...