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Turtle Rocks
A couple friends have mentioned finding this metaphor useful, so we're reposting it publicly. (It was originally posted in May 2013.)
So, imagine a heartbreaking trauma is big and obvious, like a Galapagos turtle in the garden. Sometimes the memory can be lost, in which case the turtle is hiding.
But then there are turtle rocks. These turtles are in the garden, right out in the open... but they're camouflaged as big honking rocks. So you know they're there, you see them all the time, but hey, they're just rocks, right? Who cares?
You don't notice them. You don't even really look at them hard, because... man, it's JUST A ROCK. Who cares? It's like your eyes glaze right over them, and whenever someone goes, "Uh, dude, that's a turtle," you just go, "What're you talking about, it's a rock," and if people remind you, "that rock is MOVING, it has legs," you go, "you're overreacting, it's just a special rock. Don't you have leggy rocks too? Everyone does." Even when you're surrounded by people who want to strangle you because, "OMG IT'S A FUCKING TURTLE WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU," all you can see is a rock. And you can talk about the rock to someone if you want, but there's no emotional context, so it doesn't FEEL important.
So, imagine a heartbreaking trauma is big and obvious, like a Galapagos turtle in the garden. Sometimes the memory can be lost, in which case the turtle is hiding.
But then there are turtle rocks. These turtles are in the garden, right out in the open... but they're camouflaged as big honking rocks. So you know they're there, you see them all the time, but hey, they're just rocks, right? Who cares?
You don't notice them. You don't even really look at them hard, because... man, it's JUST A ROCK. Who cares? It's like your eyes glaze right over them, and whenever someone goes, "Uh, dude, that's a turtle," you just go, "What're you talking about, it's a rock," and if people remind you, "that rock is MOVING, it has legs," you go, "you're overreacting, it's just a special rock. Don't you have leggy rocks too? Everyone does." Even when you're surrounded by people who want to strangle you because, "OMG IT'S A FUCKING TURTLE WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU," all you can see is a rock. And you can talk about the rock to someone if you want, but there's no emotional context, so it doesn't FEEL important.