Deepen

Ale (U.S.A.)

[Reflection]

I added some "shadows" to this metaphor, and the exercise made me dig deeper:

When writing at my best, I’m like a street cat in his alley—like the ones in Istanbul. I feel in charge of everything and at peace with the world. I can poke around any box, bag, or item left behind. I feel ready to pounce on any new idea or thought that crosses my mind, just like a cat pounces on its prey. I investigate any movement or sound. However, I can easily get distracted, curious about new smells, new people, or other cats that cross my path. Not every adventure I choose to take brings something great to my work, but I keep learning, and I’m at peace with the cat I am. People pass by, and other cats and animals too. Some I’m interested in, others I let them go. Some bring food and water, others just company.

(This metaphor was inspired by my Cat Charlie, who is the most zen living thing I have ever met in my life)

As I was writing for the exercise, I realized that metaphors are used constantly in physics (or so I think they are; maybe it's a different word). We learned about our physical work through metaphors. Specifically, in oceanography, we compare complex flows and structures to simple shapes and movements.
1) A complex coastline --> we think about it and model it as a straight line.
2) Complex eddies in the ocean --> there like perfect circles
3) Complicated stratification in the water column --> We think of the ocean as a layer cake, each layer with its temperature, salinity, and density.
4) Budgets--> like imaginary boxes that we define in random places; we put in stuff, and we measure how the stuff changes in time.