(Brain)Storming

Brainstorming represents the relatively rare weather metaphor in ideation.  And yet it captures some very important underlying realities. It suggests the chaotic, even random, experience of ideation, particularly in early stages, and the sense that a lot of energy (both heat and light) is invested and/or produced. This image may be truer to the underlying processes of associative thinking than some of the more organic or intentional metaphors.