The Fat Fish

"...the sort of fish that a good fisherman puts back into the water so that it may grow fatter and be one day worth cooking and eating" is said in Viriginia Woolf's essay "A Room of One's Own."  This quote has been floating around in my head since we read it in class, and I have been thinking about it.  What if that fish is a thought? And I am the fisherman.  As I am sitting on the side of my pond with a fishing pole in hand, I pull out a tiny fish. It is little, new, a baby fish.  My options are to keep it and mess with it so that it eventually dies, let it go so that it can grow up and grow fatter to one day be worth eating, or I could let it go and forget about it all together.  If that fish is a thought, then those options apply to our thoughts as well.  Many people would have that thought and just mess with it too soon, over think it, and then it will not be worth anything anymore.  Or the person may let it go because it is assumed that the thought will never become anything and then it will soon be forgotten.  But the people who let it go, they will nourish it and allow that thought to grow and become perfect for eating, or perfect to act out.  Then one day, when the time is right, they will go back to the pond, catch that fish, and have a filling dinner - come back to that thought that has grown into more and have this idea that will work out for the best.  My concern is for those who just let that fish go, not to allow it to grow, but to forget it because they think it won't become anything.  For whatever reason, I connect this with Albert Einstein.  What if he had had all of his genius thoughts and just forgot about them?  Where would our science and math be now?  What would have happened as a result?  Instead though, he let his thoughts grow, he developed his thoughts.  Now, we have E =mc^2 and more because he did not let it go and just forget about it!  The society we live in plays it safe.  When someone has a big dream, we think he is crazy.  We say, "He will never be able to do that."  Why do we tear down the dreams before they have the time to grow?  Why do we not encourage the person?  We can help that "fish" grow!  We can nourish it, contribute to its growth, and then one day, it will make a wonderful "dinner."  Our society needs to be more encouraging, push the growth of that one fish that may look so tiny, and allow it to become just right for eating instead of killing it as soon as it is pulled out of the pond.