Ladies and Gentlemen, I Present to you an Octopus. As You Can See, It Has Eight Legs and Lives Under Water. Clearly It is an Octopus

Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you an octopus. As you can see, it has eight legs and lives under water. Clearly it is an octopus. You may think you are seeing a four-legged creature with tusks, ears, and wrinkled skin, but I assure you, because I have expertise, it truly is an octopus. 

My friends and colleagues, let me introduce you to a butterfly. As you can see, there are legs, wings, antenna, and a proboscis. You may think you are seeing grey-tones and lots of flesh, but really it is an abdomen, orange and black wings. Yep. Yep. This is a monarch butterfly, indeed. 

Have you see the kitty cat we brought home for our kids? ...a fuzzy wuzzy, playful putty-tat. She is frisky, loves her yarn, is sometimes super friendly, and loves kibbles. You might see white horns, but we don't. What you are seeing is actually milk on the kitty cat's whiskers.

Hi, all, I want to introduce you to our friend the canary. Since our last canary passed, we thought it might be nice to restore our office space with a bright, yellow, music-oriented song bird, so at today's meeting we wanted to put her before you so you can see what a canary looks like. 

Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey. This is MOST DEFINITELY NOT AN ELEPHANT. You may think it is an elephant, but you are misled. It is anything but an elephant. Should you think this is an elephant,  there is something tremendously wrong with you. I think you need help. This is absolutely anything but an elephant.

And so here were are in 2021, seeing what we see, experiencing what we experiencing, and knowing what we know, yet so many around us (for a wide variety of reasons) are trying to convince us that what we are are seeing is not what we're seeing at all.

Oh, gosh. Such a metaphor for higher education, politics, and every-day decision making, too.

For what it is worth, "I see an elephant." Why? Because before my eyes, presented to me, and obvious to my face, there is, indeed, an elephant. Yes, I hear all the interpretations of this creature as anything but an elephant, but I'm 100% sure it's an elephant. If you are thinking this is an octopus, butterfly, kitty-cat or canary, I will give you some respect, but come on now, "This is so obviously an elephant." 

Enough with the games. We all are ready to move on. You know. And you know, know. But you choose to see that an elephant isn't an elephant. And you work to convince everyone else it is something different than it is.

How does this help anyone? Anywhere? Ever? This metaphor seems to be pervasive right now.

The Emperor has no clothes. Never has.

And yes, the elephant is naked, too.