The image of a fish in a bowl and another in the ocean is a great metaphor for life. It expresses the idea of limitation. On the one hand there is a fish that thinks in relation to the bowl where it lives (home) – the micro – and on the other hand there is a fish that thinks in relation to the ocean (the world) – the macro. The fish bowl is a symbol of unnatural living and thinking – how a being can be placed in a confined space and feel content and safe. But is it safe, or can it be dangerous?
It is an example that can be applied to many situations, particularly in the way that some people might think of themselves – under-estimating their ability and worth – and how they think about the world – their environment and surroundings. It can also be seen in modern life and the way of society: seeing and living among diverse cultures can help an individual to see life in a much broader view – instead of seeing a repetition of things – understanding that reality, society and culture can be diverse in many of ways. It all depends on the limitations of our mind and habits.
It is a representation of how some people come to view the world: there are those who will view the world from inside a bubble, an artificial environment for them to feel comfortable and safe inside. However, becoming too comfortable with the limitations can create a false sense of reality and a false sense of understanding. The phrase, ‘your habits become you’, means that our habits, good or bad, become part of who we are – incorporated into our self-concept. To habituate (to become a habit) to the confines of comfort may be likeable to many but to some it is viewed as a prison and a lack of expression.
Furthermore, as humans we try to categorise and label everything because it is easier for us to manage information. However, when we categorise everything we can often forget how closely related things are to each other because in our minds we have separated them into categories. We also fail to see the bigger picture.
Example One: A Rainbow
It looks like several different colours, which we categorise with several different labels – the names of the basic colours. Now, the colours are distinctly different, yet, we know that the colours are not clean-cut different because the rainbow is the entire spectrum of colour contained within light. And we also know that there is a gradual change between the colours.
Example Two: People
Those from the north and those from the south might be labelled differently within a nation but the people are of the same nation. Northern Europeans, even though of different nations, they have similarities that could categorise them together. But then again, all Europeans are labelled the same – ‘Europeans’. If we look closer still, – or rather, further away – we can see that there are similarities between all nations, all races, all humans – hence the label, “humans.” The fact that humans are separated into categories only distracts from the bigger picture – that humanity is one.
Example Three: Religion – apologies to anyone who has strong religious beliefs, no offence of belief is intended.
All religions are based upon similar fundamentals, just tailored in different ways depending of the geographical region of the religion. We label them all differently but they all allude to the same thing. Once the common aspects are found, they [religions] are no longer separate by their barriers – their differences. The two fish in the image would not be separated from the whole – the ocean – if they did not confine themselves within the bowl. A similar thing could be said about religion: how can someone hope to be closer to God with a desire to be separated from God’s other creations?
Categorising can be helpful but potentially dangerous to how we construct our thoughts. We must remember that the rainbow is only important because to the light which it comes from. Nations are only important because of the wonderful diversity they demonstrate. Each religion is neither more or less important than another, only the spiritual faith they encourage. Categories are not important; it is the sum of what they represent that matters. The categories just make it easier for us to understand it.
Limitation upon life and narrow minded thoughts will only impede our ability to fully experience life, and ultimately, to understand life better.
From experience, it is not easy for us to see the limitations and invisible boundaries placed upon our lives, mostly because we have become accustomed to them that they shape our existence – aspects that have formed our persona. We might mistakenly think that without that shaping, we would loose all form; loosing our sense of identity, forgetting that we are more than capable of growing into new forms (shapes), building a new identity.
Such limitations and boundaries could be viewed as control mechanisms or a type of programming for those that find it easier to think within boundaries, they also provide an excuse for not doing the things that we fear the most – failure, embarrassment. These limitations and programming can be found in many aspects of our modern lives; culture, religion, politics, education, pop-culture, medicine, science – of course science is not supposed to be limiting but often it is used as the definitive measurement of our understanding, beyond which, nothing else may exist, thus it becomes a limitation.
Art by AfterSkool
Questions
What limitations do you see – or not see – surrounding your life; past and present? e.g. maybe you only stick to local foods; maybe you do not like to go out; do not like to meet new people; do not meet with people of a different religion, nation or race. Try to think about all the times you have been held-back or deterred from doing something because of a limitation placed on your life.
How did each other limitations affect you? think about the affect on your actions and behaviour, habits, routine, thinking, choice of friends, partners and jobs, and life in general.
