Similes are Simple but Metaphors are Masterful

I’m fascinated with, and entirely dependent on, understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another. (A big thanks goes out to Lakoff and Johnson for the insight required to generate this rather concise and potent definition). We tell ourselves stories in order to make sense of and ultimately improvise and live with new information and unique events. Not a moment goes by that our minds don’t facilitate our conscious understanding by offering up a metaphor to make it easier for us to swallow—a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down; metaphors galore!

I want to tell a story without explicit reference to anything particular—a sort of giant parable with withering trees, seed picking birds, and vineyards-a-plenty, except none of those things will actually be mentioned, just referred to, referenced in such a way that the audience understands and experiences one kind of thing in terms of another. Glorious! I’m smitten with cognition! All hail the mighty metaphor!