<p>In this paper we address a challenge posed to enactivists that defend the life-mind-language continuity thesis and we propose an enactive view on the emergence of symbolism in human praxis. The challenge is an apparent paradox lying between the claim that wherever one finds life one finds language and the claim that languaging is a practice that only social beings engage in. We address this issue by resorting to the distinction between pervasiveness and complexity. We show that both these characters of linguistic phenomena are not only compatible with each other but also, together, central to the life-language continuity thesis. To further support this move, we offer an enactive take on the emergence of symbolism by (i) specifying an enactive conception of symbols and human languaging and (ii) identifying four conceptual steps of symbolic emergence dynamics, namely, enacting bodily, material, cultural and system continuity.</p>