Earlier today I posted the fish picture with the lilypad, and mentioned that it meant something to me, but I didn’t say what it meant.
I used to have an outdoor goldfish pond. I filled it in, and plant potatoes there now. But when it was a pond, I had somewhere around 20 goldfish and koi in there. I also had lilypads growing there. Anyway, when I’d look into the water, I wouldn’t see any fish. They would all hide. But if I sat down next to the pond with a cup of coffee or my notebook, and was still, I would begin to see fluttering fins and fish peeking out. The longer I sat still, the more they would come out. They would even eat from my hand.
So one day, it occurred to me that that is how it is with creativity. When I’m rushing through my day late for this or that, fretting, poems and paintings don’t come to me. They don’t cross my mind. But when I sit still and am open, pen or paintbrush in hand, the creative thoughts come to me and allow me to capture them on the page.
So that’s what goldfish and koi represent to me. Creative thoughts.