I love metaphors. This love has been growing for a while now but it felt especially prominent after my first encounter with The Fault In Our Stars. Reading about Augustus Waters and his use of metaphorical resonance, I was ensconced in the magic of metaphors, the seemingly endless possibility that lies within them.
I started to use metaphors in my life as a way of talking about things without actually talking about them. It was easier that using the real words and maybe it was a bit cowardly but I still managed to access the same conversation, even if it was hidden behind a facade. It was even fun, finding the right analogy and trying to fit it into the situation, all the while avoiding the admission that this was my life I was discussing. It was easier for me to compare my life to a game of Clue than to openly say that I had no idea what was going on and I was stumbling around in the dark.
John Green first introduced me to the power of metaphor and I'm extremely grateful for that. He showed me how metaphors, particularly in literature, give us an easy entry point to asking the hard questions we have to ask if we're going to live examined lives. Metaphors are like the simple machines I learned about at Science World when I was ten; they make the heavy lifting a little more manageable.
I'll be continuing with my use of them to tackle the tricky stuff. When actually talking about stuff is too hard? METAPHOR!
Now, kids, go forth and conquer your challenges with metaphor clutched in your fist. I strongly recommend it.
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