Gone Fishing

It seems that fishermen know a lot of secrets.

They so enjoy sitting quietly and patiently…letting the sun shine down on them, noticing the occasional ripple in the water.

I have this theory that they may be the world’s great philosophers…not so much because they are thinking things over but rather because they are just intuitively enjoying exactly where they are.

One of the smartest things fishermen do is the very process of how they interact with what is waiting in the water. They throw their lines in…directly, with careful, patient aim…watch them slip into the water and then they wait.


It’s that waiting that is so intriguing. Fisherman will wait forever just to see what will happen. They will not try to force the situation. They know better. They have an innate instinct that things will unfold in their own time.


And it’s anyone’s guess what their line will connect with…could be a fish or other sea creature but could also be an old shoe. When a fish comes in, they relish the moment…checking to see exactly what kind it is…how much it measures and weighs…what kind of condition it is in. When an old shoe or part of a tire comes in, they laugh, disentangle their line and calmly and with great equanimity and patience, they try again.


Here’s where I see THE GREAT FISHING METAPHOR. The fisherman engaging with what is in the water is a metaphor for how we choose to communicate/engage with one another.


The fisherman’s effort is considered and direct…he wishes to engage the fish immediately, if possible.

But, if the fish does not respond directly to the overture, the fisherman is not thrown by this development… he takes note of the situation and continues the process of waiting.

He ENJOYS the process of waiting. He wants to see what will develop.


The fisherman’s artistry is his pure enjoyment of the process…watching its unfolding.

How wonderful if we could communicate with each other in this same way. If, after we speak directly and with considered intent, we wait patiently… and ENJOY waiting patiently… while the person we are communicating with decides how he wants to respond to the invitation.


Not much room here for chaos or disruption…just a fisherman casting out his line and waiting to see what will arrive… or a person connecting energetically with another’s process of response.


Gone Fishing. Perhaps a very wise sign we should all decide to live by.