Fishing for Life
While slaving away at corporate offices or falling asleep by the glowing light from the TV, many people seem to have forgotten the beauty and meaning that can be found in the most simple of activities. Desperately we hunt down the latest commercial product, or have another child to save the already ruined marriage, to "feel good" about a situation that we deep down inside know isn't functioning very well. When the stress and demand increase, we feel like our lives have become a mere platonic mechanism, not something to enjoy and cherish. There are many ways to heal the soul and mind from the madness we see going on in modern society today. Fishing is one of them.
Whatever time it is, no matter if it's cold and raining or warm and sunny, there should always be room for an hour or two of fishing. Few things can match the calm of sitting in a boat alone, throwing out a bait and waiting quietly on a catch, while letting the eyes meet the horizon, where the sea line is contrasted against the green surrounding. The still, almost meditative serenity is complete. You may be alone, physically, but strangely your senses slowly melt in with nature and you feel like an organic part of it. The fish is your food and the magic of Mother Nature nurtures your soul.
It's equally relieving to be able to take a best friend or a son out on a fishing trip, because when you two are alone and everything around you seem to be a distant dream, you are able to be naturally honest. You can talk about anything and every word feels like a drop in the sea. For most people that enjoy fishing, you don't even need to talk. Hours may pass by without a word, because inside we're breathless, amazed by the gifts given to us by this complex and beautiful world.  It doesn't need any bureaucratic justification to exist; without it we wouldn't be here today - and which fetus would be stupid enough to kill the womb that brought it to life?
Even more, fishing is much like life in general. We all start out with different equipment and different abilities; some have excellent baits but don't know how to use them, others have lousy baits but have figured out where to drop them to get a catch. But life is unpredictable, which is why you sometimes get a fish and other times only find empty cans or plants from the sea bottom. Those who are brave enough to try fishing even though they might lose their bait - and if it's really bad, their whole equipment - have got the patience and idealism to move on.
Because even if we're born into this world with different abilities, we must all learn how to use them in order to catch the fish. I know people who have accidentally dropped their bait in the water and brought up a huge salmon, and other people who have spent days from morning to evening, trying to catch at least a small perch, without any luck. Fishing, like life, is hard and therefore we as individuals must be hard back. We can't give up the first time and shouldn't give up the second, or the third. We must continue trying our luck, in some extreme cases to stay alive.
But most importantly, we must learn how to appreciate life as an experience in itself. Most fishers that you meet, coming home from a long day out on the sea, are happy or calmly satisfied, regardless how much fish they've caught. Why? Because, like with life, fishing is much more than just trying to stay alive; trying to catch that salmon in the ocean. It's largely about belief; belief in luck and in the small but important meaning of finding, searching after our own destiny, among the thousands and thousands of other people on boats, trying to catch a fish just like you. Will you make it? If you believe you will, you have already. Not necessarily a salmon, perhaps not even a perch, but if you firmly believe you one day will catch something, the trip is already complete; the search to catch the day and make it yours have been won.
by Alex Birch
June 30, 2007
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