Words and imagination

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Some words have a lot of different meanings, sometimes even widely varied meanings, such that they lend themselves to interesting bouts of imagination…

Take the word ‘bill’.

We can be running up a bill, be on top of the bill; we can be billed, and fit the bill for that matter. There is a bill fold that we can use to carry around the big bills.
And it is also the beak of a bird.

It brings me to a dream-like scene where I just got payed for my work. And as I am having a stack of newly received bills in one hand, I also have bills to pay. But before I get around to that, a big bird walks up to me and snatches the stack of bills out of my hand and gobbles them down, leaving me with bills to pay but no money to do so.

Other times it is a saying that sparks my imagination.

Like ‘cooking up a storm’. When googled, all references lead to actual cooking. From recipes to how-to videos and everything in between.

However, my mind creates a totally different picture from these words.
I see shakespearean witches cooking something in a huge cauldron. And the moist, scented damp escaping the cauldron moves up and starts to create clouds. At first they are just small, white clouds; but pretty soon they cluster together and get a darker appearance. Before long the wind picks up and it starts raining. And to make matters worse, that big cloud begins to spin. Leaving the witches in the still of the storm, with rain and hail and wind all around them…

And talking about rain; how about this saying that it is ‘raining cats and dogs’?
It always does present me with such an interesting visual… Makes me want to go out and catch at least some of them; some fluffy kittens, or soft, sleepy-eyed puppies…

The most interesting thing about these things happening is that whenever words create a visual that is out of the implied context of the rest of the conversation, it does have something to tell us about our lives at that instant.
For instance, being faced with unexpected bills right when we thought we got a handle on our finances. Or the fact that when you stay in the still of the storm, there is no telling what nice fluffy, sleepy kittens or puppies will come your way.
Or, putting them all together, perhaps it is just a warning to start saving for a rainy day…
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