Day 88 -- Got Metaphors?

Copied this from a reddit post I once made: Imagine a footrace where everyone is walking around with backpacks , and you're told that they are all the same weight. Your backpack feels pretty heavy, but you think that if everyone else can manage that weight, so should you. You get tired, but refuse to take a break. No one else need it, right? But then someone points out to you that, while other people's backpacks were filled with styrofoam, yours was filled with bricks. That's my analogy for how it felt not being able to keep up with others in school/uni.

Gijs Lettink

I loved your list...I agree the 'Where's Waldo' one hit home.

Nancy Wilson

There was a good one in the email I sent you...it was from someone in the 'See in ADHD' Facebook group...I had screen shotted it...if you like it, I can ask him if you could use it.

Nancy Wilson

I always say it's like having a head full of squirrels and they're all chasing a different nut!

Cheryl and the Squirrels

I totally agree! Why are most water drains circular? Do not google. LOL just a fun question. I bet you know the answer and why it is important to something totally unrelated to drains. So back to laundry....BOO Cheers Lisa

Lisa Focus

Over on the ADHD Guild on Habitica someone once asked a while ago how would you describe your ADHD in one sentence. My answer was "It would be a run-on sentence full of side comments (usually in parentheses like this) because there's so much subtleties that need to be communciated because every thought I usually distinguish between, say for example, squares, rectangles, trapezoid, parallelegrams (and that they are different is *important* (and I don't see how others don't discern - or worse, seem to care! - about the differences, because those are not all the same!)) but then I think about non-Euclidiean geometry (what about if we're talking about curved space or those rectangle bubbles with the rounded corners) or perhaps Venn diagrams and the combinatorics using all the different shapes (but then do the shapes *have* to be circles and ovals?) but those things are important in understanding the full context of the thought I'm trying to communicate (even if its just with myself) much like how studying about the various uprisings and revolutions against the British crown (like the English Civil War started by Cromwell in 1642, but also perhaps the Bloodless Revolution by William and Mary (that's where the college got it's name, I think) in 1688) were probably significant if at least indirectly with the American Revolution but you don't need to really study them in depth to get that the American Revolution was a unique event in history (and we're back to squares being rectangles but rectangles not necessarily being squares)...."

Pete Guion

And the "more I can see the more I can't see" is really good too.

Pete Guion

The 'Where's Waldo' metaphor - so spot on!

Pete Guion

I really like this one. :)

Katrina (Katie) Hauer

You are rollerblading down a hill and you are going really fast. People say to you, "Wow! You are so fast! You are so good! I wish I was as skilled as you!" But in reality, you are not in control, and you grimace as you narrowly avoid another catastrophe. It's only a matter of time before it all falls apart and you go flying or crash into something and badly hurt yourself. - thoughts of how it will all fall apart

Katrina (Katie) Hauer

On behalf of my Brain, Bailey (age 11): "It's like you are running a marathon each day and you stub your toe 100 times while running, and go back to look and examine the rock you stubbed your toe on."

Ellen Wheeler

Here's my running list of metaphors -- stay tuned for more as time goes on: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pJxGkyOoe3ymK2eXtUNtkSAEJsGDIZHcyUHXVSGHt_c/edit?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pJxGkyOoe3ymK2eXtUNtkSAEJsGDIZHcyUHXVSGHt_c/edit?usp=sharing</a>

Hannah Weisman

update: i'm rewriting it lol

Hannah Weisman

oh no! did my long list of metaphors not post!? That would be so sad!

Hannah Weisman

We hire professionals to do the things they do well so we have time to do the things we do well. I hire my phone and journal to remember things and remind me of things so I can do ANYTHING else.

Lisa Williams

I have MANY more metaphors (and drawings!!!) to share -- just let me know how I can help!

Hannah Weisman

Sean, that is brilliant. Thank you for sharing. I am developing a presentation for teachers' Professional Development and that will be so helpful.

Moira W.

Being at the mall at Christmastime ALL DAY EVERY DAY is one I have used a lot. Racing car brain (Ferrari comes to mind) with bicycle brakes is another. I love metaphors so am sure there are many more as I explain it a lot in my quest to de-stigmatize and normalize so I will return....

Moira W.

Unfortunately it's not my own, but this is far and away my favorite ADD metaphor. And the one that resonates with me the most, this is exactly how I feel all day long. <a href="https://xkcd.com/1106/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://xkcd.com/1106/</a>

Light is on and is always on powered by all the brain activity.