U.S.: Reminders From a Fish

As I write this post, I glance across my room and lay eyes on my newly acquired goldfish, fish tank, and accessories. These are all temporarily mine until the end of summer, or until Pearl dies, whichever comes first. Not to sound grim, but let's be real - it's a goldfish - they don't exactly have the life expectancy of sea turtles. Nevertheless, I am taking care of this fish to the best of my ability. I must admit that occasionally thoughts cross my mind such as, his current state of dormancy means he's just sleeping, right? I think the wild, three-hour car ride which transported him from his former home to his new home shook little Pearl up a bit. Not to worry, though, after a few days in a state of vertigo, the fish has returned to displaying bouts of swimming fanaticism. Good fishy.

All this fish talk reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Finding Nemo, and more specifically, of a conversation between Marlin and Dory which goes like this:

Marlin: I promised I'd never let anything happen to him.
Dory: Hmm. That's a funny thing to promise.
Marlin: What?
Dory: Well, you can't never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him.

Isn't this the truth? It is certainly much worse to live within the confines of our own safety cocoons than to get out and experience life. Going through each day with a constant fear that something bad is going to happen is hardly living at all. Good moments, bad moments, happy moments, sad moments, beautiful moments, present moments - they pass us by all the time. Let's embrace them and learn from them, never lingering on regrets or the coulda/woulda/shouldas, and always savoring the sweet memories. Pearl reminds me that life is a gift to be taken care of, not to be taken for granted. He also reminds me that there are times made for blissful dormancy as well as times for zealously celebrating the ability to swim. Just keep swimming.