Reading time: Less than 1 minute
I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a metaphor from Melissa Hill…
I’m glad to be in my 50s rather than my 20s. This thought crosses my mind frequently, as it did when I read the article “Can Tylenol Help Heal a Broken Heart?” which appeared in the New York Times’ Modern Love column June 3/16.
Written by recent Brown University graduate Melissa Hill, the column explores the angst of an awkward neuroscience student having to deal with her first break-up. The guy ended things and Brown was crushed.
But she recounts her romance with charmingly nerdy reflections on neuroscience, including the zinger that scientists have found that acetaminophen (Tylenol) can reduce physical and neural responses associated with the pain of romantic relationships. Who knew? And why didn’t they tell me that when I was 20 and could have used the advice?
I enjoyed Hill’s writing style and one of her metaphors made me smile. It was this:
I’d fall asleep next to him with my hand on his chest, calmed by the metronome of his heartbeat.
In truth, the heart functions as a pump in the circulatory system to provide a continuous circulation of blood throughout the body. But its beat is indeed a metronome — accompanying the rhythm of our lives.