Fish in the Ocean, Grace Chen ‘24

Fish in the Ocean

After the film Soul by Pixar

I believe we are already in the ocean - we just need to realize it. If you’ve ever watched the movie Soul (by Pixar), you’ll know the iconic fish story that sax player Dorothea Williams tells the main character, Joe Gardner. But if you haven’t watched the movie- it’s alright. You get an explanation!

Joe dreams of “making it” as a jazz pianist, and at the beginning of the movie, he’s offered the chance of his life: to perform as pianist for Dorothea Williams’ renowned quartet. Spoiler alert: he gets to do it… after a chaotic series of events. But after the performance, he tells Dorothea he expected to feel different. Cooler maybe. And then she tells the fish story. Here it is, in all of its infinite wisdom:

A young fish swims up to an older fish and says, “I’m trying to find this thing they call ‘the ocean.’”

“The ocean?” the older fish says, “That’s what you’re in right now.”

“This?” says the young fish. “This is water. What I want is the ocean!” After that, Dorothea gets into a cab and takes off, leaving Joe in the dark city night to sort out his thoughts. Very dramatic.

But, what does this all have to do with beliefs? Or what I believe, specifically? Well, I think Dorothea was telling Joe that finally reaching success as a jazz musician wasn’t the glorious ocean he was looking for. The ocean was everything he deemed ordinary in his life: New York pizza, going to the barbershop, even the cacophony of middle school band students that he had to teach. Likewise, I believe that my entire life is the ocean, even more beautiful than whatever my ultimate destination is. Like Joe, we might spend our lives as young fish chasing after that destination we call “the ocean.” Maybe it’s thinking about that next award or internship or college– all to get out of the “water” of high school life. But those goals are just a small gallon of the ocean. The ocean is more than what we’re convinced our journeys should culminate in. It’s too unexplored, too expansive to be limited to one thing. So the ocean might be right here, right now.

We can realize that we’re already in the ocean only if we truly live our lives. So enjoy every moment! I believe it’s important to celebrate the now- all the time- like eating lunch with friends or finally clicking “completed” on a MyArchmere assignment. For me, the sense of being in the ocean comes on late, stressful nights. It’s somehow calming to be aware of the present, instead of thinking of the enormous pile of work awaiting me after midnight. Or maybe it’s just procrastination. To quote one of the songs in the movie, “make life your goal.”

If you want to see all this for yourself - watch the movie. And when you’re watching it, maybe you’ll start finding the ocean, as I did: feel your eyes fill at Jon Batiste’s piano in the soundtrack, feel your heart leaping at every plot twist, and feel the sadness that pools as a gentle ache when the movie ends and the credits roll because you’ve taken every breath, every step with Joe Gardner. See? You’re already there. In the ocean.

This I believe.

Grace Chen ‘24