About the Logo

Launch Empowerment Mentoring's (LEM) logo is a fusion of three themes: the Yin-yang, the Boat, and the Rocks and Reeds.

The Yin-yang

The land and water are shaped like a yin-yang to represent the balance of elements in one's life. LEM holds that it is important to confront the unknown as well as the known, one's fears as well as one's comforts.

The Boat

The boat represents the vessel of the self, which can carry one forth across unknown waters to the realization of personal potential. This symbol comes from an old Indian tale that tells of a traveler who came upon a river. Unable to cross by foot, the traveler asked a ferryman nearby to help him across. In response, the ferryman looked at him and laughed. Confused, the traveler asked the ferryman again for help and this time the ferryman grew angry and resentful. Bewildered and consumed with a dislike for the ferryman, but with no one else to ask for assistance, the traveler asked the ferryman a third time to help him across the river. To the traveler's surprise, this time the ferryman smiled and took him gently by the hand.

The ferryman represents an individual's resistance, which can wear many different faces. In the story, the traveler first encounters feelings of shame, and then anger. In a client's journey, he/she may encounter these and others.

The Rocks and Reeds

The rocks and the reeds represent internal and external manifestations of the self -- one's thought processes and one's behaviors. They stand in groups of three to represent the relationship between the two extremes of any phenomenon and the middle component, which can be used as a bridge between the two.