The facts of nature are what they are, but we can only view them through the spectacles of our mind. Our mind works largely by metaphor and comparison, not always (or often) by relentless logic. When we are caught in conceptual traps, the best exit is often a change in metaphor — not because the new guideline will be truer to nature (for neither the old nor the new metaphor lies “out there” in the woods), but because we need a shift to more fruitful perspectives, and metaphor is often the best agent of conceptual transition. 

Comparison:

"‘People go to the Macy’s parade to see the balloon,’ [Anna] Peterson [project manager at the Portland (Oregon) Bureau of Environmental Services] says. ‘That balloon would not be in the parade if not for someone holding onto the cord. I would say Carol [McCreary, Co-founder of PHLUSH; advocate; consultant] is probably a Macy’s balloon. I’m the one holding on.’"

Context:

"A slight woman with a tuft of white hair, [Carol] McCreary hasn’t sold [a patented outdoor toilet developed by the City of Portland] a toilet since being contracted to market the Portland Loo last October [2012].

‘It just hasn’t been on my radar,’ she says.

Peterson still believes she can harness McCreary’s energies toward selling the loo [to other cities]." [comparison here]

Mesh, Aaron. “Money Bucket.” Willamette Week 15 May 2013. 15. [13-16]

Must admit, I didn't see this one coming (but, how can you miss a Macy's Parade balloon?). Thanks to Aaron Mesh and Anna Peterson for this comparison (not to mention the high-flying Carol McCreary).