Most people think of metaphores as a literary or rhetorical device that we pepper our speech or literature with when hoping to make a point. A metaphor is used to say something is something else, for dramatic affect upon the listener/reader. The moon was a silver dollar, hanging in the night sky is a good example.
However, metaphors can make a very positive and negative impact on the way we live our lives. This might seem odd, but read on:
People use metaphors in their lives to describe things and they begin to believe in the metaphor itself. So, when someone has bad head ache, they say, I have a crushing headache, and they believe in the crushing sensation of the headache, rather than simply saying my head hurts.
Using the same idea, someone might say that they have crushing money troubles and they suggest to themselves by means of the metaphor that their money troubles really are crushing. It is possible instead to say that I have some money difficulties that I need to manage.
Check out the way that you use metaphors negatively in your life. The power of language to define you is astonishing!
However, metaphors can make a very positive and negative impact on the way we live our lives. This might seem odd, but read on:
People use metaphors in their lives to describe things and they begin to believe in the metaphor itself. So, when someone has bad head ache, they say, I have a crushing headache, and they believe in the crushing sensation of the headache, rather than simply saying my head hurts.
Using the same idea, someone might say that they have crushing money troubles and they suggest to themselves by means of the metaphor that their money troubles really are crushing. It is possible instead to say that I have some money difficulties that I need to manage.
Check out the way that you use metaphors negatively in your life. The power of language to define you is astonishing!