Metaphorically Speaking

I have been talking about roller coasters. 

I’ve decided that marriage is a roller coaster. 

The information is in the image of the roller coaster – the image conveys so much….

It does such a great job conveying…

that I am able to rest.

We can just think about the roller coaster proudly together.

We point at it – “Look.  We are on a roller coaster.”

Sometimes images just come in and match that with which we are grappling.  Images help immensely.  I like them.  I can pin my theories onto metaphors – they become a sort of bulletin board I use – to display my thoughts. 

Think of them as mental Pinterest…less kitschy…more psycho. 

Your Pinterest board is nothing more than a bunch of images you have located, most of which you will absolutely never ever ever create. 

You just like to collect the ideas…and display them, so that others (including yourself) will know what ideas appeal to you and what you like and –

let us be honest – when you “pin” something – you kinda feel – at some level – like you just made that thing. 

You don’t even have to torment yourself with yarn and hot glue and a pricey trip to Hobby Lobby. 

You pinned it; therefore, you have expressed it.  You don’t have to get dirty. 

What a site, what a pal.

Thank you, Pinterest.  I thought I hated you, but I think I just redefined you.

I can share a metaphor, and someone will GET me…however fleeting.  Neither one of us gets dirty.  We both look at the board and admire the work up there, and it is familiar to us.  We can appreciate it.  

You even feel good when you get me.  You feel smart.  We like this getting each other:  I get you.  You get me.

All this getting makes us feel something.

We like it.

We even like the metaphor-users.  We appreciate their goods.  Sometimes, old guys in taverns get a little carried away with the metaphors, but – even then – we are glad they have found a way to communicate in their stupor.

"Well, aren't you a tall glass of water."

Good metaphors hit you like finding something you have lost…finding it right in front of your face.  You think something magical and mystical and supernatural just happened. 

YES!  I GET IT!  There it IS!

Having that experience with a metaphor will cause a person to make a sound like,

“Oooooooo.” 

You see it.

And, all at once, something is better understood. 

We all just want to be understood.  Understood feels awesome. 

When your husband gives you an “Oooooo,” you crack a smile – you just cannot help it.  Your husband “Oooooo-ed” you, and that means he just advanced in the course...the course of who you are.  That is some form of intimacy, a fortifying type.  It is as if we experience this “Ooooo” as a new guarantee.  Someone understands you a bit better, and – therefore – someone can accommodate you a bit better.  

Maybe your life will get just a smidge easier because someone has more insight as to what makes you tick…what is ticking inside of us…right now.

We are ticking.

Ticking time bombs?

How’s that for a disturbing metaphor?

I totally didn’t even want that one – I just put it there for effect.  You probably thought, “I am NOT a ticking time bomb.  I don’t get what she is saying at all.”

See – the wrong metaphor is just as powerful.

I pin an image.  You get what I have in my head.  You know more about me. 

But, an image-based type of knowing is limited.  It is nothing like being in there for the long haul.

From an image, maybe you will extrapolate way more than I wanted…you might springboard in a direction that is way off.

If I pin one picture of a rag doll with red yarn hair, you might start sending me pictures of Raggedy Ann, and I will be like, “Why?”  I pinned the red yarn hair picture because I liked the way the face was done on that doll.  I hadn’t even thought of the hair.

One image...

One metaphor...

doesn’t mean you know everything there is to know about me.

No image...no metaphor can do all that.

And so – back to the roller coaster.

I think my marriage is a roller coaster.

You might say, "Ooooooo."

And, then you might extrapolate, "That GIRL'S life is a MESS. Lawd have MERCY.  I am glad I am ME."

Marriage is a roller coaster, but so is life.

Except – we didn’t ask to get on.  We don’t know when we are getting off.

What kind of ride is this? 

For my life ride, 

I think I should have been put on the Swan Boats.

Which ride do you wish you were on?