I have a 6-year old daughter who has big feelings. She’s loud, funny, silly, high-energy, and sweet. And when she feels things, she really feels things.

She gets super excited about something and can’t stop telling everyone about it – barely able to get her words out. Then she gets upset about something and to her the world is ending, and don’t we all know about it! Every feeling is big and loud and all-consuming.

And this is wonderful. We love that she is so expressive and full of life. We are also trying to support her through those feelings and help her to understand them.

Like all parents, we don’t feel like we always do a great job at this. This week I received a message in an e-mail that said the following :

At bedtime the 8 yo told me his teacher said: “Think of your mind like a pond full of fish and each fish is a feeling. Try to be the pond, not the fish.” And all I can say is primary school has significantly improved.

I found this to be really soothing on so many levels and when I’m ready I’ll share this with my daughter too. We’ll see if she finds it helpful.

The world and the way it is right now sometimes feels really overwhelming. It can consume my life in sometimes unhealthy ways. There’s a lot of fish swimming around upstairs and some of them are really hungry right now.

I know that a lot of you often feel this way, too and sometimes we talk about it during your massage sessions.

All I can say is that I’m conciously trying to be the pond. The pond that holds my family, my hobbies, my business, my friends, my community, my faith and my care for the matters of this world. They are all important, but no one fish should be in control. They are a school that needs to swim together in harmony, in one big perfect pond.

Try to be the pond, and not the fish.

David
— Husband, Father and Massage Guy —