What Can a Fishpond Teach Us?
I have a small fish pond with Koi and gold fish. The nine of them have been together for about four years. They’ve weathered some severe winters together and keep growing. I don’t really know what I’m doing but something seems to be working, because they all seem to be thriving.
The other day, I noticed that Whitey wasn’t being his usual self. He was hanging out with his nose pointed down and his tail pointed up. As I moved around a bit, he moved a bit and looked okay, aside from sitting strangely in the water. Later that day as I was observing Whitey, looking for any irregularities on his body or in his eyes, I saw one of the other Koi fish gently nudge Whitey to move.
At first I wondered if the other Koi, Kookoo, was irritated that Whitey was in his way, but it wasn’t like that. It appeared to be an act of caring for Whitey. I watched this occur over the next couple of days by some of the other fish too – nudging Whitey a bit here and there.
I did some research about Whitey’s condition. One of the suggestions was to put him in quarantine to ensure the other fish wouldn’t catch something if it were contagious. I thought about this but then remembered how the nudges of the other fish in the pond seemed to support Whitey. I thought, if I remove him from the pond and his fish family, that might be more traumatic in the end. So, I decided to leave him in the big pond and let nature take its course.
This morning I woke up and went to tend to the fish as I typically do. To my delight Whitey seemed to be back to his normal self again. This made me so happy!
What’s the Takeaway from Whitey?
We need community. If we become isolated from the world, which can happen in so many ways, we are rarely nudged out of our stupors, patterns and habits that may not allow us to thrive to the best of our ability.
Now, I’ve been a pretty reclusive individual, however, I’m nudged by all the connections I have with my clients, with the people I correspond with, and through my small group of friends here on the Island. Like Whitey, I’m glad to have these nudges to remind me that my aloneness doesn’t mean I’m isolated. I’ve always got support! How about you?
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