What's A Meta For?

This metaphor has holes in it, they all do, but I think this is another way of explaining to someone what living with TM is like. I was talking to my mom, and she asked me how I was. I told her, "I'm okay, Mom. Doing the best I can." Then my eighty year old mother asked me, "Is the marijuana helping?"

I had told my mom last year when I became a qualifying medical cannabis patient under Illinois' new Compassionate Care Act. I said, "Yes, it's a Godsend, and yes it helps." Then it hit me.

"Mom," I said, "Everyone's in their own little boat flowing on the river of life (or now with the Internet, the ocean of life), then suddenly your boat springs a leak. The leak is TM. It can be a slow leak or a gusher. You scramble around because you don't know what to do, and you find a thimble in your pocket, so you start bailing.

"It doesn't help much though, so you go to a professional to seek advice. The expert tells you that you have a serious leak. They don't know what caused the leak, they don't know how to plug it. But they can give you a cup to bail with.

"The cup helps some people who only have a small hole to deal with, but you're still taking on water. So the expert hands you a pail. It helps again, but you're still sinking. The state hands you a bucket. Now you're holding your own.

"But the constant bailing takes an emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical toll."

So am I doing okay? Does the marijuana help? Yes. I'm still afloat and part of the regatta. I guess that's saying a lot.

"Love you, Mom."