"Sometimes I wake up and the first thing I think of if Jen, and I imagine the tiny version of her in a doll's house bedroom in my brain and I'm comforted by Imaginary Jen who wants to keep my company for a little bit longer."

— Dolly Alderton (b. 1988)


Work Title
Publisher
Knopf
Date
2024
Metaphor
"Sometimes I wake up and the first thing I think of if Jen, and I imagine the tiny version of her in a doll's house bedroom in my brain and I'm comforted by Imaginary Jen who wants to keep my company for a little bit longer."
Metaphor in Context
I wish I could explain to him that I don't want to think about her any more, but thinking about her is not a choice; that--even though Jen is no longer in my physical life--the room inside my mind that has been occupied by her for the last four years still exists. I want to convert it to a home gym or a meditation room or get in a new tenant, but I can't. Sometimes I wake up and the first thing I think of if Jen, and I imagine the tiny version of her in a doll's house bedroom in my brain and I'm comforted by Imaginary Jen who wants to keep my company for a little bit longer.
(p. 99)
Citation
Dolly Alderton, Good Material (Knopf, 2024).
Date of Entry
02/25/2024

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.