Catching the Big Fish

Picture credit: Waterlife by Rambharos Jha

Ideas are like fish

If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper

I love this quote by film director, David Lynch, from his book, Catching the big fish. He’s a long time meditator and says so many of his ideas, the way he does things, the way he doesn’t do things and his perspective on his creative life comes from that deep well deep within when you’ve connected to an inner expansive consciousness. The ideas can come from external inspiration but often I think if we’re honest and look back many of our lightbulb moments emerge from a time when we’re really not doing much. Not even thinking much.

It doesn’t always have to be about trawling for the big ideas as I also feel that sometimes the little tidders you catch start off as just that, little tiddlers, that then grow and grow and perhaps even transform into something you never even imagined. And thats where diligence and perseverance comes in (as well as being aligned with the universe). It’s sticking to something once you’ve started it and seeing it all the way through. Thats often the tough part. But I also guess thats why you want to stay in the now, not to project into how big that fish could grow or what it may or may not look like. Why not swim along for the ride. Be surprised. See what bubbles up. See where the tide takes you. I love ocean metaphors. I’m trying to drink my own medicine and see where the current takes me without swimming against it and not drifting aimlessly but in a curious, playful, intentioned way. I’m diving in.