I’ve been spending all my time in cities for the last few weeks and, being a nature lover through and through, I feel like a fish out of water. I find my attention being drawn to every little tree or shrub, regardless of how pitiful and anaemic they all look. I gravitate towards the parks – those patches of fake countryside embedded in the city to help the urbanites forget, for a short while at least, the abject horror of dwelling in a concrete jungle, never knowing a moment of silence or stillness, squashed in with millions of other hapless souls.
The phrase ‘a fish out of water’ has reminded me of something more wondrous though. A few weeks ago I was in the Philippines and there, on a boat trip, I saw many flying fish. These little creatures, disturbed by the boat, would fly out of the water and skim the waves for ten metres or more before plunging back into their watery home. How amazing it must feel for them, to leave their familiar environment and move in a completely different way in a completely different medium!
The pioneering flying fish remind me of what it takes for us to find our essence. It is no use us sitting comfortably in our habitual world. We, like the flying fish, must leap into the unknown of another way of being and another dimension of life. Doubtlessly we will feel clumsy to begin with, flopping back into our habits in a split second. But with some patience and practice, we too can learn to skim over the waves of life, gracefully and effortlessly.
