[ Contents | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Russ Hicks
Date: 10/15/03
Time: 10:04:16 PM
Remote Name: 12.237.88.139
Hello Marija,
Yes, I love the beauty of analogies too. It's a way to see a "truth" by looking at something from a different perspective.
I've gotten so used to talking about stuttering to everyone around me that it's often times hard for me to realize how hard it is for other people to do the same thing. So when I began my study of covert stuttering several years ago, it was amazing to me how people could be afraid to do something that was absolutely second nature to me - talk about my stuttering. But enter another analogy! I hate snakes worse than Harrison Ford hated them in Raiders of the Lost Ark. "Snakes! Why is it always snakes?" <smile> If someone would tell me "Just go pick up that snake. He won't hurt you. It's easy." I'd tell them to go take a flying leap! No way in hell I'd ever pick up one of those slimy things! They'd have to shoot me first!
Well hey, isn't that pretty much how covert stutterers feel about talking about stuttering? It may not be rational, but it's certainly the way it FEELS - to them. The emotions below the waterline of the iceberg don't necessarily have to make any sense, but whatever a person FEELS, it's absolutely REAL to them! If you saw the movie "A Beautiful Mind" you know what I mean. We make our own reality. Snakes are my terror. Stuttering is a covert stutterer's terror. It makes sense to them - and that's what's important!
Analogies sure help to explain the world, don't they? Glad you enjoyed the iceberg!
My best,
Russ