Elephant Needs a Bicycle

What's as unnecessary as an elephant needing a bicycle? Elephant metaphors abound in speech and literature.

Kings of Siam offered a rare white elephant to noblemen who had fallen out of favor. The cost of feeding and caring for the creature destroyed the recipient.  This evolved into using “white elephant” to refer to an expensive and wasteful construction project.

Then a white elephant became an undesirable possession. A white elephant sale attracted individuals who found value in others' discards. In his story, "Hills Like White Elephants," Ernest Hemingway led the reader to decide the value.

An elephant in the room refers to an obvious situation no one wants to acknowledge.  When the elephant changes colors, a pink elephant refers to a drunk person's hallucination.

The elephant test refers to the difficulty describing an elephant.  One just knows it when one sees it. In one story, six blind men had the task of describing an elephant. Each felt a different part and described the animal from that reference point: the trunk, a tusk, an ear, a leg, the stomach, and the tail.

Have you heard anyone say that they hope to “see the elephant” ? Individuals traveled miles to view an elephant in a circus parade or under the big top. As a result, any overwhelming experience could result in seeing the elephant.

P. T. Barnum advertised his elephant, Jumbo's size which led to referencing the name as a synonym for colossal. (Elephantine, is another synonym, though it also refers to ponderousness.) Dumbo from Disney fame has discovered its name thrown around in disrespect.

Other elephant attributes include superior intelligence and memory. Since they have poor eyesight, based on observations in zoos and circuses, they are not bothered by mice as some have believed.

Create your own elephant metaphors for a story or poem. Or, try the fox, chicken, frog, snake or donkey. 

A Do Day!

We drive down the street and negative signage accosts us at every turn.   STOP.  Do Not Enter.  Wrong Way.  Stay back.  Danger.  
Do not feed the birds.  
Do not.  Do not.  

Why is our world all about NO instead of DO.

Rewrite all the signs you pass on the street.  

Turn Stop into Go for it.  

Encourage motorists to DO positive actions.

Hurrah for YES!  Just do it!

Reword the negativity and make it a DO day!  
What would this Night Heron have to say?

What to Do with the Hole Inside?

Everyone has unfilled needs. At times an emptiness exists. The fellow above has found a way to become creative with his empty place.  

He does not try to fill it, explain it, or overcompensate. Going into action, he moves with it and enjoys its sound.

"If we go down into ourselves we find that we possess exactly what we desire."  
- Simon Weil

Write about your feelings of emptiness. Where do you feel it in the body? When does this happen? What do you use to fill the vacant place? 

Does your plan work?  If not . . . 

Write to discover creative ways, like the little guy above, to use your hole to an advantage.  

How does it feel to write into the depths and discover another way not tried?

Use humor, a sound and a scent.