Which of these two goldfish do you see yourself as at this point in your life? Does it differ in different areas of your life? Which goldfish were you at earlier points in your life? Explain your answers.
In my opinion, being a big fish in a large aquarium is a stage where we become arrogant individuals in a small community, there are not many competitors and we feel to be the biggest. This is the stage that I felt when I was in high school. I used to live in a school that has three floors. The first floor is a class and the second to third is a dormitory. After three years of living in a dormitory, I realized that the outside world was not as easy as I thought. There are so many life challenges that are increasingly changing. At first I felt that the character of the person was not as much as I thought but in fact the character of the person varied. During this time, I felt life like a small fish in a big aquarium. I realized that this world is broad and not as easy as we think. I am determined to step out of my comfort zone because the comfort zone is the zone that kills us slowly. Being successful is not an easy thing, we must fight and stay humble.
In my opinion, life is like being a fish in a sea. Of course, in certain communities you would feel like you’re a fish in an aquarium, since the people there are people you know, or because it’s a small community. However, I feel that in life there are always things or new areas that you can explore. There are always new places to discover and new things to do. I really feel like sometimes people like to limit themselves, and that is the reason they would feel really suffocated, like being in a small aquarium. I think you need to be positive and search for things that would make you feel happy. You could also talk to new people so that you would realize that this world is an incredibly huge world filled with opportunities. Surrounding yourself with people that would support you could also help in figuring both yourself and the kind of life you want to live out.
Being a big fish in the small bowl means that you have a great role in a community. On the pther hand, smalla fish in the big aquarium is the opposite. You are a quite person jn ajn a community with less role. Me, as a person, can be a different person base on the situation. Sometimes i do a big role, and sometimes, i only listen, but not quite, and only take a small part of the community. For example, sometimes i recognize myself being in a community that most of my mate in that community is a person that doesn't want to participate much. So, in this kind of situation i usually take a big part of the community, because if i don't the community will not grow bigger. I feel like i have to take charge in this community. Second, if i'm in a community that most of the member is a person who wants to take a bigger role or wants to take charge in the community, than i prprefer to stand back, because if i also obtrude to be the leader, and all of the members also want to be the leader, the community will break apart, and cannot grow also. So, i usually adapt with the condition of a community, so the community will not stuck in a one condition.
Why did I saw the goldfish in the big aquarium as me? Am I the only one? Feels like I am stuck in this huge world and I will forever be small and alone if I do nothing. I used to think that I am that goldfish in small aquarium. I am a cheerful and positive person living in a small world with only me and the world is moving around me. Now I tend to think that I am small and I don't have anything that I could do to grow myself so that I could be a better person. The standards and limitations that I can doi is just too complicated to handle. After graduating, I started to think that I have a bigger responsibility and I just feel like I have to always please others in order to please myself. Before, I was completely careless and always did something only for myself. I did things to make myself happy. Few days ago, I'm on this stage where I think that maybe that's just how life works. You did things for others, and not for yourself. But a few days later I realize that I was drowning in my own thoughts and that's not what is happening now.
Sabrina, I read your comment on this post and it made me feel emotional. All I can say, please, don’t ever feel that you’re small in this world. The world is evolving but that does not mean it’s leaving you all alone. In fact, it’s leading you to something greater, something good for you. You should not feel like there’s nothing left in you to be a better person. There is always something that you can do to be a better person. If I have to be honest, you are already a better person everyday and every time you spread positivity for your friends and families or even strangers around you. It is true that as we grew older, we will meet with greater responsibility including stopping being a selfish person. Putting ourselves first may be a good thing, but to put others first in any possible circumstances will always be a noble thing to do.
Salsa, I would like to thank you for cheering me up. I did not expect you to reply my comment but then you told me that you wrote one so here I am. I wrote that comment pouring what has been inside my brain for a long time thinking that I would never be a better person. I remembered when we went to Gudeg Bromo, I asked you about how to be a cheerful person like you, and you give me some tips and life advice. So eventhough you were feeling sad at that time, you still have the energy to cheer me, Mila and Khanza up. Salsa, all I want to say is that you should be as bright as you are right now, and you should not let anyone be who you're not now. Always be the cheerful person I know now. Wishing you tons of happiness, Salsa!
I think the picture above represents the different types of environment that are exposed to us. I think the different size of the tank represents the different types of environment. At the early stage of life, we live in a “smaller tank” because the environment that is exposed to us is our family and maybe relatives. As time went by the tank also grew bigger and bigger, meaning that we are not only exposed to our family but also our friends and strangers, whom we met in our life. The size of the fish also represents our progress in each of the environment. You may start as a smaller fish with little knowledge and less experience, but over time, with the help of the people in our environment that shape our way of thinking, we gradually grow into a bigger fish. As for me in my previous point, I was the fish in the small tank. I was limited to a small community during my time in high school because my school community is very small compared to other schools in my area. I was constricted to a small community, which doesn’t give me as many experience and knowledge as now. As I transition into a college student, I realized that there are so many things to discover. I get to learn many things like how to be part of an event committee and also some other practical skills that I don’t get to learn in high school. I think the message that the picture is trying to say is that along the way we are most likely exposed to the new environment and we have the choice to adapt and discover new things within our time being in the environment or feel down because we are no longer the special person/the bigger fish in our fish tank.
Seeing this picture makes me think of the two stages of my life which is living with my family back in Jakarta and living alone in Yogyakarta to attend college. I would say that the fish in the small bowl represents my life before I attend college. Back then I do not have many responsibilities. Whenever I have problems that I can’t solve I always ask my mom on how to finish it, and because of that I didn’t pay attention to the environment around me as much as I do right now. The world that I know at that time was smaller compared to what I’m facing now. In the present days, I can relate myself as the fish in the big bowl full of water. I’m starting to see the change of the environment around me and realize that if I don’t do something about it, I will not survive. Therefore, I have to improve my sense of survival in order to go through this vast world that is full of challenges.
My interpretation of the picture would be that the big fish in the small aquarium can not evolve anymore or growth and possibly get better, can be a metaphor of the comfort zone where it’s small and cosy but where there is no opportunity to growth intellectually or in more general term evolve in life, and it is time to look for a new challenge, new opportunity and new environment if you want to evolve. The second fish is smaller and it much bigger aquarium that the first fish, it has more space to potentially grow, and explore new things, can face competition and challenge, it’s scarier of course to feel small and maybe lonelier in some way but facing challenge is the only way to potentially get better. I think I feel more like the small in the big aquarium, lot of potential opportunity and new things to do, in contrast when I was in High-school I used to live in a small town with few opportunities to grow I was feeling more like the big fish in a small aquarium.
Looking at the picture, I can see myself as the smaller fish in the bigger bowl at this point in my life. Just like the small fish in a big bowl, I feel like my life now is provided with a lot of new opportunity to explore. Just like the fish could possibly wander around the big bowl, I took the change to explore a lot of opportunity. However, for me, taking opportunities means carrying a lot of responsibilities which sometimes stress me out. If we look closely to the fish in the big bowl, the fish is looking at another fish in smaller bowl. That’s exactly what I feel right now as I feel burdened with too much responsibilities and if I could just make my “bowl” smaller. Earlier when I was in high school. I felt like the fish in the really small bowl. I was limited to some opportunities. In high school I feel like I didn’t have a chance to explore a lot of opportunities because I had to focus on my study to graduate and get into a good college. However, life was much easier during those days I was in high school, just like how easy it is the fish to get food or oxygen from the surface since it is not far away.
I guess that in some communities it might be more difficult to evolve, for example because of the lack of access to education, therefore some people might feel like a fish which is too big for its aquarium. But in my opinion, the world is too big to be limited to an aquarium. I think that, as it as been said in a comment above, life is more like being a fish in the ocean. Nowadays, with the technologies and how it is way easier than before to go everywhere, the number of opportunities is almost endless. There are always new places we can go to, new people we can meet, or new experiences we can try. I grew up in a village and I think that at that time I was like a fish in an aquarium. I liked that, I was in my comfort zone, surrounded by my family and friends. But I believe that going out of our comfort zone is even better as it helps ourselves to evolve and discover a lot of new things.
A big fish in a small bowl, or a small fish in a big bowl ? Well i think there are many answers to these kinds of analogy. To be honest i am used to see things from two sides of view. Not being perfectly open minded and accept every little thing i hear, but i open the possibilities other than just on way of sight. In my opinion, they are two same creatures. Small or big bowls, they remain fish. The size is just how you see it. So in my ideology, nothing or nobody is more special than others. We are all the same and we are all equal. None of us should feel more pride within himself or herself and show more arrogance. Because we are all limited by one same thing in this life, which is time. And we are all haunted by the same ghost and the only true ghost we shall fear, which is death.
Yes we were born different, either what date or what family we come from, but we are all still just as much as a human or a person as everybody else. We have to treat everybody all according to how a human should be treated. Because we are a social beings that need each other. We were not born to be all on our own. As of now, I don't feel like a small or a big fish in any bowls, I just feel like a fish that has so much water available to explore and to enjoy to its finest bit. Time passes by and things change, but we should still be honestly the same to ourselves. It is just the matter of how we face occasions that makes it all feel different. This world is out there for us to explore and this analogy the world is imaged with the water. So no matter which fish we feel alike, the adventure awaits. And Indonesia is full of yet unexplored adventures that craved to be found by the Indonesian people.
Seeing those two goldfish in the image presented above, I assume that the big goldfish in the small tank in these context represents someone who is unable to grow further due to limited opportunities whereas the small goldfish in a big tank represents someone who is yet reached their full potential and are able to continue their journey in look for opportunity and individual growth. As of now, I believe that I am the “small goldfish” as I just recently able to be admitted to one of the best University in Indonesia as an international undergraduate student. As an IUP students at University Of Gadjah Mada, I am able to get massive opportunities to further hone my knowledge and skills while also being eligible to attend international exposure program. As an individual who lived on my own, I also learn about living on my own without being fully dependent on my parents.
Looking at the picture, I immediately positioned myself as a small fish in a large fish bowl. Maybe I thought that myself was just an ordinary person, who didn't really affect my surroundings , even though the environment was very broad and I had the opportunity to develop. Unlike the big fish in the small fish bowl, in my opinion, it describes a person who has a strong intention to develop and improve life, even though the surrounding environment is less supportive of him. Here, I begin to realize how I put myself in my current environment. It seems, to maximize self-potential, I have to try well and never give up, so that I can take the opportunity and make it a factor that drives me to develop into a better person. Of course, in my efforts to develop, there are many responsibilities that I must not forget and of course always remember people who supported me.
I would like to express my vision of those goldfish which is placed in a different place. My first point will interpret about the space. However, without any differentiate all of Gods’ creatures, like a fish, they can’t ask the human for any request. They just follow what the human want. If someone wants to put the fish in a pond for example, so they can reach all of the places freely. But, if someone decides to put the fish on a small aquarium, sincerely, the space will not as narrow as the pond has. So, I could say that, people always have their own capacity and limitation. If I were a fish, i think my aquarium is the bigger one. My parents give me a lot of capacity to evolve, without giving some limitation of something. For instance, they give me a latitude to decide the boarding house that I should take. No matter how much it costs, the important one is that you feel comfort and you can study well there.
Based on that fact, all of the worth that I should reach depends on my decision. Back to those goldfish, They can sleep tight in the bottom of the the tank and eat happily until their body fulfills the space of aquarium. But, they would not have any experience around their space. They will don’t know what's happening there, and their growth which fulfill the aquarium surrounding symbolize that their life was over, because if they can survive, the space for them is not enough, and they will die. Simply, like someone when they have been given a lot of things with their parents, without any limitation, if they can use it very well, they will improve to be a successful person in the future. They won't do a lot of experience in the organization, events, studying, etc they will be a mean person. But, if their life just filled up with sleep, playing a game in their room, eat, never socialize to others, they will suffer soon. Even though, their parents always give a lot of money to them, it will not long lasting until they grow old. In conclusion, I would say that someone who gets that bigger place, must utilize their space wisely to be a great person soon.
I would consider myself a small goldfish in a big aquarium. I would say that the small goldfish in the bigger aquarium is able to grow bigger, and maybe meet new friends since there is still a large space for other fishes. Meanwhile, the large goldfish in the small aquarium thinks that he is the biggest fish and that he may not grow any larger since there is no more space available. My mother has always told me that it is always preferable to be someone who is considered small in a large world filled with opportunities, not only to learn but to grow as a person rather than being in a close-minded society where you may be considered as the smartest. Those who are the smartest in small societies may not have the eagerness to learn since they tend to feel like they have known everything. I guess this kind of mindset is one of the reasons why we would prefer studying in the top school, compared to being in an average school but become the smartest?
When I see these two goldfish, I see that I am now the fish in the big aquarium. It is because I feel that I am now entering a new chapter in my life, which is university life. University life reflects a big aquarium because university life is full of new experiences, new life, new chances, and new world. I feel that I got so many chances around me now that reflects the water around the fishes. I feel that I can swim into this university life and gain as many chances, experiences and the most important thing, friends, as possible. And also, this fish show that they are small in a big water, that reflects me because now I feel small in this university world and still have many things to figure out. However, I feel happy with this new life in university and willing to learn everything new here.
In my point of view, I’m the goldfish in the large aquarium. The small one was the old me, the one who wants to be alone and play games all the time in my room. Although I got friends to play with, most of the time I like to play alone, trying new things, and with the following reason that my friends got bored easily. For me it’s okay, I’m used to being alone in a place that what I called “my room”. I rarely got out of the house, I only want to go out if there’s something I need to attend or that I personally want to. But rather than that, I’m already cozy in my personal space. But now in university, I’m the fish in the big aquarium. It’s because I’m just a small contribution in this huge world that I don’t even know of. And I need people to help me go to those places of what you called living, and I can’t do it alone, I need friends and more friends to be my companion to go through this university life that I’m already in.
Currently, I can position myself as the goldfish in a big aquarium. I can see myself as that goldfish because moving to Yogyakarta has become a stepping stone for me to be exposed to a new environment. The big goldfish in a small aquarium shows a person inside their comfort zone, which can be described as me in Jakarta. Jakarta has become my comfort zone because I have lived my whole life there. I position myself as the small goldfish in a big aquarium because right now I am trying to explore the "big aquarium" and that is the environment of Yogyakarta. I also positioned myself as the small goldfish because the small goldfish can still grow, and that is me right now who just entered the college life, and having the main goal of becoming a better individual in terms of academics and social. In general, I can say that the big aquarium with a small goldfish is an analogy for every person that is exposed to the new environment, you are alone at first, with many empty spaces, but as time flies, you can grow and still add more goldfish to be near you, to fill up the space, until you feel like you are the big goldfish in a small aquarium, which symbolizes how you have made it your comfort zone.
What I see from this picture is that there are two fishes, one in a small fishbowl, another in a big fishbowl. Well that’s pretty obvious, but what we can interpret from this picture is that both fishes are in a limited space with nothing to explore. But one has less space compared to the other. If I were to chose one that shows where I’m at this point of life, or at least where I see myself at, I would say that I’m the goldfish in the small fishbowl. Why? Because I feel like that I am more restricted to anything compared to others. Not only that there are social expectancy and social norms, but I’ve also put myself in position where I can’t move freely. Not that I want to be in this position, but somehow I just ended up there. It doesn’t show that much, but I really feel it in exploring life. There is a lot of activities that I want to experience, but I feel like I'm being held back.
From the way I see it, the two fishes are friends, which is why they’re both facing each other. The big fish, was unfortunate and given a stuffy and poor environment to live in, which causes it to grow as much as the tank allows it to. On the other hand, the little fish got the better end, as it lives in a large tank all by itself. Due to its large space, the little fish can grow its potential (or it’s size) to as large as the tank allows it to. I feel much like the little fish in the large tank, as I am still exploring the full potential within me with the vast opportunities I have been granted at birth.
Yet at the same time, I am looking at the other fish in the small tank, feeling bad that it’s potential is so constricted by the harsh conditions it has been given. I think a lot about the kids who could achieve and become so much if they were given the same opportunities as I am, but are unable to do so because they were born with harsh living conditions that disables them to pursue their dreams. They can only grow into the mold their tank has given them, whereas I can grow into whatever I wish to be.
From my point of view, the big goldfish in the small bowl implies that you actually have a big potential, but your environment isn’t big enough to support your potential. As a result, you feel that you’re stuck in only one place with no room to grow yourself. As for the small goldfish in a big aquarium, means that you feel so small in such a big world. You feel like you’re just another fish in a big sea. Personally, at this point in my life I feel more like the small goldfish. When I look at the picture, I instantly realize that I am the small goldfish. It’s because I still try to figure out what I want to do with my life and I still adapt to the college environment. In college, I met a lot of people with such amazing personality and achievements. It made me realize I’m still nothing in this world and that I should develop myself more. However, earlier this year, when I’m still in high school, I felt like I’m more of the big goldfish rather than the small one. The reason is when you’re in high school, you can’t develop your full potential because there are still things that confine you. You can always grow in any environment in your life, it is up to you what kind of person you want to be in this life.
At this point in my life, I see myself as a small goldfish in a bigger bowl. As I entered a new chapter of my life and decided to live away from home and my loved ones, I feel that I need to be responsible for everything that I do. I need to be able to prioritize and decide on what is best for me. There are a lot of choices in life and I need to choose which path suits me well. This condition can be presented by the scenario from the article that I am the small goldfish and the huge bowl is all paths available in life and I swim across the water to find the right one. In the previous stage of my life, I believe that I am the bigger goldfish in a smaller bowl. “what’s best for my parents is also what’s best for me”, I used to believe that every decision made by my parents is good for me. Therefore, I used to be the huge goldfish in a smaller bowl because I have limited choices in life as everything is decided by my parents.
After seeing the picture above first I don’t really understand by what it means to be a goldfish in a small tank and a goldfish in a big tank, but after spending some time thinking of what could it possibly mean I think the goldfish in a small tank means you are living in your comfort zone where you probably already know how the things work around you like the people, the place, and etc. But the goldfish in a big tank I think means it is you but you are placed in a new bigger different place that you have to start again by knowing how things work around you and getting know people around you this means you have to adapt again to you surroundings. Personally I think right now I’m the goldfish in the big tank because I just recently moved to Yogyakarta and everything is totally brand new for me and I have to adapt to the surroundings.
When I saw the picture of a small goldfish in a big fishbowl and a big goldfish in a small fishbowl could be interpret in a lot of ways. You could see it in a personality perspective or in a different type of perspective. The first thing I thought of is that the big goldfish represents the negative trait of the human personality, and that personality is when people think full of themselves. Some of the examples are arrogance, haughty, superiority, and many others. On the other hand, as for the small goldfish, it actually represents the positive trait of the human personality, and that is when they are humble to themselves. The examples are when they are modest with other people, unpretentious, unobtrusive, and so on. Now as for the fishbowl, it actually represents how the community responds to these traits. If you think too highly of yourselves, only a certain amount of people will accept you. However, if you are humble to yourselves, the people will accept you with open arms and your community will be bigger than before.
The second type of perspective that we could take from the picture of two goldfish with their difference in size and their fishbowl size, is the perspective of life. The two goldfish represent the two stages of life, one in which represents the childhood stage of a human life and the other one is the representation of the adulthood stage in a human life. The keyword for these representations is “dreams”. You see, when we were still a kid, we don’t really care for a lot of things and just enjoy our life to the fullest every day. And when we were still a kid, we would definitely dream a lot of things. One of the examples is that when we grow up, we could dream to be whatever we wanted to be, such as being a pilot, a doctor, a policeman, a fire fighter, etc. That’s what the small goldfish represents. And then, when we reach adulthood, we don’t really have that kind of dream anymore. The spaces of “dreams” that we have would get smaller and we have to think rationally what we wanted to be in the future. That’s what the big goldfish represents. Either way, we still could have a dream in our life but the range of those dreams would get smaller as we grew up.
Another thing that I would like to comment about this peculiar picture is that there is one more perspective that I would like to add, and that is the environment perspective. Now what do these goldfishes actually represents if we connect it with our environment, it’s actually pretty simple. When we grew up in a place where we were born or where we lived in, we would definitely be familiar with the places that we already know and we would also get bored to visit the places that we already knew. To sum it up, we’re like the big goldfish in a small fishbowl. We are already too big for ourself to explore the places that we are familiar with and the size of exploration we have is pretty much small. However, if you moved to a different place, let’s say when you and your family move to a different region or when you study in a university outside of your town, the range of exploration is bigger than before you move to a new place. And because you are new to that place, you can discover a whole new experience that are different from your origin, just like the small goldfish in a big fishbowl. All in all, there are a lot of perspective that we could take from just one picture and there are sorts of ways we could interpret them.
The beauty with these types of prompts is that no context is given so that audiences can see the two goldfishes freely in accordance to how they see it, resulting in diverse interpretations from a variety of different experiences. The way I see it, the two fish tanks simply represent the limits of an individual’s life; whether natural or imposed by something. I would have to say that my life has always been akin to the goldfish in the big fish tank, because I have never truly felt like someone or something ever limited my life. Maybe I can attribute this to the fact that my parents and my friends were always supportive of whatever action I choose to take, therefore making me feel like my options are always open. For instance, when I feel very anxious for an upcoming test, I do not feel like my life depends on it, instead, I have the rationalization that if I fail I will find other options that can cover said failure.
From my perspective, the big fish in a small aquarium means we live in an easy world when we are dealing with less complicated, small problems which are not proportionate to our potential. This means that we don’t need hard work to deal with the conflicts given to us. It is when the environment doesn’t challenge us enough, and therefore we don’t have to put much effort into being the best in the small world. This is where the situation demands less than what we can achieve, or in other words, the environment doesn’t demand our full potential. Therefore, we don’t have to do at our maximum capacity to be the best in the setting or surroundings. This is actually not a good thing because we don’t do the best we can and by that, we can’t grow or evolve to be better than before, or we cannot improve our capability in life.
While personally, I’m more on as the small fish in a large aquarium. It means that I’m a small and ordinary person, living in a big environment with complicated life or conflicts. The small fish represents how are we still vulnerable and hard to deal with problems, who is still helpless and still needs to evolve, trying our best to make contributions to the competitive environment, that we have to fight for our grand battle. We are exposed to competitors who have grown to be far better than us and have more potential than us, preventing us to be dominant in the environment. This is where we were dealing with bigger problems to solve, struggling so hard to survive, moreover to outshine the others who have higher capabilities than us. We aren’t the best in the environment, but I think that is is better than being a big fish in a small aquarium, because by being challenged we can grow and be better.
When i was still in high school, i considered my self to be a big fish who lives in a small bowl of aquarium. It happened because i feel like high school’s life is kind off monotonous. In the stage of high school, all i did is basically just go to school in the morning, studied in the afternoon, and go home in the evening, and it keeps on happening for three years straight. Although i still considered it as a great experience, but still this kind of daily routine is sometimes makes me feel a bit restricted. Meanwhile in college life, i considered my self to be a fish who lives in a big bowl of aquarium. Why? because here we got plenty amount of time to explore a new opportunity and idea to advance our self. In college, i have more time to actually focused and pursued my hobby and do activities that i could not ever done in my high school life.
When I see these two kind of places for the fish, I immediately imagine myself as the fish in the big aquarium. I have always been the person that want to try something new, experience new things, and be an open person. And also, I have always like myself being with a lot of people and in a big environment. So those reasons are the first reasons why I chose the fish in the big aquarium. The second reason is that because now, I am entering a new chapter in my life, which is university. I am very happy for entering this university, UGM, because it has been one of my biggest dream, so we can say that now I am living one of my dream. The reason why this reflects to the fish in the aquarium is because this new university life is a big environment and I feel small in this new environment. But, I am very willing to learn everything new here and be the best I could
Before, I used to think that I am a big fish in a small bowl, it’s before I moved to Jogja, to live on my own, without any supervision from parents or family members since none of my family members live here, since at home, I think that I’ve had lots of experience since my life at home was considered as monotonous for me since it’s only go to school, studying all day long and at 4 o clock went back home and playing games with my friend, without the need to worry much about my surroundings and what’s happened around me. However, now it’s much different since I started to realise that life isn’t as monotonous as I observed back then before I attend college. Since now, I do feel that I am a small fish in an absolutely huge bowl called as life. I started to think that I haven’t explore much and therefore, I need to pay more attention on my surroundings since now I’m not surrounded by my families anymore since they’re mostly situated in Jakarta. The need to do things on my own, maintaining my financial health in order to be healthy throughout the month as well as the need to perform my responsibility which do increase which started to make me thinking that life is much more than I used to think before. Also, I started to realise that compared with others outside, I considered myself as not as good as I used to think so that the need to always update myself with information and skills as well as experience is needed in this wide and diverse society.
Being a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond? When I was in school back in El Salvador, I felt like a big fish in a small pond. My life was so simple back then and things came to me really easy. I was in the football team, I had the most popular guy as my boyfriend and grades were also fine, I use to think I was a big fish in my small world. After many years now I have discover how small I am in this big world, how hard it is to get accepted into a good university and that you are just one more little fish in this whole academic environment. However, I have to say, I realize how small I am just right now when applying for an internship. I am just an applicant more in this big pool of applications.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I saw the pictures is that I used to be the big fish in a small aquarium before I enter university, because my hometown is small, very comfortable and certain. And I thought to myself that even though I like it very much, it does not give me opportunities to grow, to pursue my goals and dreams. When I went into university I just realised that I am stepping out of my comfort zone. It is when I feel very much like a tiny fish in a big aquarium. The big aquarium represent many opportunities as well as obstacles that I'm going to face when I'm pursuing my objectives. The small fish is a depiction of my state of mind. In a big city I feel small and sometimes lonely even when I am surrounded by a lot of people. But I know it's all a part of a process and I do hope that it will eventually paid off someday.
Vivi, I am writing this in Intro to Business class with you sitting behind me. You are such a smart and kind person. I still remember before mid exam, we used to study together in a coffee shop and you always amaze me. At that time I did not understand anything but we solve so many questions together and at the end of the day I am finally able to understand it all. Especially with Accounting, you are doing such a great job and I am still even now. In the future, I hope that we'll be able to get along well and I really want us to be able to pursue our dreams, and also do something that we always wanted to do. Stepping out of your comfort zone is not easy I know, but eventually you will learn so many new things that will makes you a better person in the future.
Anyway Vivi, let's study together for the final exam! I am so excited to be able to study with you!
Hi sab! I did not know you replied on my comment until you told me couple of days ago. Thank you so much for the heads up, Sabrina! You are such a good friend and fun study partner indeed :) all these process of stepping out of my comfort zone surely was not as hard as I thought before when I have a supportive friend like you. I never thought I could amaze someone so thank you for your sincere compliment. I want to say that our study session before midterm exam was very helpful for me too! Thanks to you I could ace my statistic midterm exam! Honestly I am nowhere doing 'a great job' in accounting but I thank you once again for your kind words. I am looking forward to tiresome & endless study session to prepare final exam with you and also the others. I hope whatever our dreams are, we can make it come true. Wish you tons of luck and happiness!
After reading the comments section of this article I realized that people have their own interpretation of the picture, and this really amuses me. Some stated that the big goldfish in the small tank represents a their younger point of life where there was not any life problems that needed to be fix on their own. Some also stated that it represents a position in life where there is not any space left to grow, evolve, and explore. And some even stated that it was a the idea of fitting in society. From my point of view, I saw myself in the position where I am the small goldfish in the big tank, which is really different from my highschool days. I grew up in a small city not knowing how big the world actually is. This causes me to think as if I was a big goldfish in a small tank. But my once I am in college I realized that i was wrong to think that I know the outside world.
Yeah just like anybody else, the smaller fish who lives in a larger aquarium is a state of mind when you’re feeling small compared to the world and problems that you’re going to overcome. It makes you more aware of your self and makes you feel like you need to work hard so that you can have a place in the huge community. Feeling like you’re alone, without your mom and dad ready to back you up whenever you confronted a problem with every resources that you and your family has. Seeing a bigger fish in a smaller bowl means the opposite of that, you will feel like you’re dominant in every aspect in your life, which is really relaxing and very comfortable. But if we see the aquarium as the boundaries for us to develop our self. I prefer to live in a larger aquarium so I can experience more. Living in a larger aquarium gave us the opportunity to observe more, exploring something and having a new experience so I can be a better fish, or maybe a stronger one. I really grateful because God gave me the opportunity to exit my comfort-zone and living my life as an independent person. After all, we’re all just a human, we’re just a common thing.
It is very hard to determine what each aquarium represent. It can be defined in many ways and different perspective. However, after thinking through it I think that the big fish in a small aquarium means that you are suffocating which can also be connected to stress and the second aquarium means that we are relax because we have so many rooms to breathe. Currently, I would compare myself to the big fish in a small aquarium. University is a new experience for me and the homework is very different compared to high school. My high school was so free and there was almost no homework. In university, I almost must hand in my homework everyday which gives me pressure and I cannot have a lot of leisure. Being in a high school that lets their student do what they want probably to affect this. Since I am used to being lazy during high school and become a fish in a big aquarium, I am probably surprised by this new experience. Hopefully I can change and get used to this new system though!
Looking at the pictures above, it gave so many perspectives in interpreting it, and I think everyone have their own perspective when they look at the picture. However, for me this pictures shows two independent characters who are living in two separate environments and both of the characters are facing the complete opposite condition. The goldfish in the left side shows that he has the capability to do a much bigger thing being represented by the size of its body but the goldfish is limited by the environment. On the other side, the goldfish is very small meanwhile there is a lot of room for the goldfish to go around, but they are looking at each as if both of them are not comfortable in their own environment. From this simple representation, the point that I would like to take is that the condition that we are facing may not always goes as we planted.
Therefore, what we need to do is to be grateful towards what we already have, and maximize what we have. Our environment may not always act the same as we expected, and so what we also need to do is for ourselves to adapt to our environment and maximize what we have already. If I’m ask in which condition am I facing? it will be the one that is on the right because, I feel like right now I am sitting in a new environment with a whole lot of opportunities to be explored, I have to adapt to the new system while also be thankful to many things that I already have. This picture also reminds me that I’m not the only one that are facing hard times with the condition in my environment, there will always be someone who is being put in a much harder condition than the one that I am facing.
My interpretation of the illustration shown above is that the big goldfish in the small tank represents the life of a person who thinks that he has seen and explored the whole world. While the small goldfish in a large tank illustrate an individual that thinks that there’s still a lot to discover. At this point in my life, I could visualize myself as the small goldfish in the large tank; because since I moved to Yogyakarta for university, I realised that there’s more to this world than just going to school, finishing school tasks and studying, playing computer games, competing in futsal competitions, as well as training at the gym and pool. The things I just mentioned was my everyday routine when I was in high school. I realised that the world is not a small place. There’s still much things that I should learn and understand. For example, since I moved here, I need to adapt with my new surroundings; and break down the barriers of improvement. Therefore, now I believe that nonstop discovery and constant improvement is necessary survive and excel in life.
My interpretation on the whole thing is that as people grow older, the more their free time will be filled with activities that leave them with very little room to breathe or even allocate for their happiness to take place. In this case, it is only logical to think that people have always started their journey living in a giant aquarium, only to grow and be overwhelmed by the responsibilities that they have to bear in exchange of earning a living for themselves. However, just because your world gets smaller, doesn’t mean that you can’t develop the mind-set that you once had when you were still a child. Despite the overwhelming tasks that stand in front of you, waiting for you to finish them, such “explorer” mind-set will provide you with the additional energy you need to keep you awake at night while everyone is too deep in their sleep due to the exhaustion that they got from working long hours of work. This additional energy is up to your decision to make whether you’re going to utilise it to explore the world further by feeding your curiosity through reading books, or perhaps spend it on activities that can help you regain the spirit which you have lost during your daytime work.
This picture is very open to interpretation. From the way I see it, I perceive the goldfish as human and the tank as human environment. I interpret the goldfish inside the small bowl as an individual being in the state of plateau. It is as if an individual stop progressing because it has completed a certain level of milestone. achievement. The point where the goldfish is no longer able to move inside the small bowl is the time where the goldfish should be moved to a larger bowl. Staying in comfort zone, or staying in the state of plateau will not lead to growth. Notice that placing goldfish in such small tank will eventually lead to death. On the other hand, the small goldfish located in the big tank represents growth. The small goldfish inside the big tank will have the ability to swim, explore the tank and grow. As for now, I see perceive myself as the small goldfish in the small tank. The world is wide and there are a lot of things to explore. Life is full of challenges and I am a firm believer that if an individual is determined to grow, he or she needs to constantly strive for new challenges. Staying in comfort zone will not get us anywhere.
I think I may have feel both condition at the same time. I always feel like a big goldfish inside a small aquarium when I’m with my family. Both my parents are super protective with their children, especially me, since I’m the oldest child and the most rebellious in the family. “Don’t do this” “Don’t do that”, I’m used to that kind of words. Sometimes it’s so frustrating and tiring being curbed like that, and the worst part is that I can’t do anything to change it. But vice versa, when I’m apart from my family and being with my friends and acquaintances, I feel like I’m a small goldfish inside a big aquarium. Sometimes I feel so small compared with my friends who already experienced a lot of thing i never experienced before. I always learn something new while socializing, seeing the world through different perspective. It is nice though, I think it becomes balanced since I felt both way.
Right now, I feel like a small fish in a big tank rather than a big fish in a small tank. For me a big fish in a small tank implies an individual that wants to grow more but there are not enough room for improvement so that the individual can’t grow anymore. On the other hand, a small fish in a big tank means that an individual has lots of rooms for improvement but that individual just wont grow. Being a student in Gadjah Mada University is a really good opportunity and it enables us to have a very big room for improvement. I feel like I can grow substantially here but the thing that stops me from growing is my laziness. I always procrastinate, and It has done damage to my grades. The source of the problem for me is my own self, not the lecturers, the friends, or other external counterparts.
I definitely see myself as the goldfish in the big aquarium. Being in Gadjah Mada University means stepping out of my comfort zone and the fact that I don't know anyone here made it even worse. I know that each students are having their own problems and challenges in their world and in this particular stage of life, everyone felt that they are the goldfish in the big tank. Moving to a new city, new living space, new environment, new friends, etc. I don't think any of us are feeling like the fish in the small tank. But now, 4 months has passed and I think everyone is feeling a tad bit better than before, we get along better, we can follow the college life cycle with all it's assigments and homework. I do wish the best of luck for everyone and may the odds be ever in your favor.
Imagine if human are fishes in the water. Some might see themselves as a big fish in a small aquarium; feeling huge enough in keeping with the world. The aquarium is our boundary of dreams, ergo when that dreams have been achieved, it is enough for us and we will have no intention to be more than we currently are. Whereas to think like the small fish in a big aquarium, we might live with immense dreams and wishes, but we feel too small to achieve our dreams. The condition gives us a chance to grow bigger, to give more space for the other to come, to share each other lessons and thoughts.
Apart from both circumstances, I’d rather be a fish in the ocean. My dreams will be to reach the Great Barrier Reef, but if that has been achieved, I am going to find another place as there is nothing called a limited sea. When I need others, I just got to find another place and not just wait for them to come by themselves.
Reading the comments above got me contemplating more about my life. I thought I was the only one who, as a matter of growing up, feeling more like the small fish in the big bowl. College for me is such a fun ride, so far. I get to discover new things, and go beyond my comfort zone. Some people perceive being a small fish in the big bowl as a negative thing, feeling small and not knowing where to go, or in this representation, where to swim. But I guess as we arrive on this world, we’ve always been that small fish. Life most likely isn’t just a big bowl, but a whole sea. What’s different is that when we were younger, there are other fishes to guide us through, meanwhile adulating means that we get to swim freely, to which ever ocean we aim to be. We have a whole sea of possibilities in this new world we've just been exposed to. Our next step is to survive the waves, not letting ourselves drown in the deep blue sea.
Right now I feel like I am a small fish in a big aquarium. After get in to the collage life I see a lot of things that I can join and discover my potential that I never know even though there are some restriction and rules I must follow since I still live with my parent. It’s oddly similar when I was first get in to high school. It’s always feels Like I will find some thing new about myself through out my schools life. In the end of my high school life I learn many things and a new hobby that related to technology in general like building a computer or playing games with friend. Now that I am in collage, there will be more things I can join since my study schedule not as tight as my high school schedule. Maybe I will start with deepening my knowledge about coding and try many event.
At the moment, I feel like I’m that goldfish inside a large aquarium because as soon as I entered university, there were just so many things that I learnt about life and university itself and still a lot of other things awaiting to be learnt by me. I guess if I have to compare back then in high school and university, I would be the goldfish inside the small aquarium back in high school because I was in the same environment with the same typical Chinese people who are open-minded yet have a small amount of knowledge of the world outside. They are definitely smart people when it comes to the school subjects, but they knew little about the outside world as their environment was the same as mine also for about six years. I am actually glad that I get to be a goldfish in a large aquarium now because it decreases my arrogance about knowledge of many things and makes me want to explore a lot of other things in this world.
Seeing this “goldfish in the aquarium” imagery really makes me remember the old days in high school. In my first year, in the second term to be exact, I met a very diligent, smart, and most determined person ever. His name is Kevin Govinda. Even though it hurts me to admit it and despite what everyone said about him, he was (and is still) my role model as a student. I had always wondered on how such a person could be so visionary, especially about his studies and what he wanted to be in the future. I envied him a lot because I felt that he had a lot of opportunities opened for him, that he prepared for everything by two or three steps ahead of most of us. Now he’s studying in University of Malaya, taking economics as his major just like me. I had a call with him a few weeks ago and he said, “Studying here feels like I’m a small fish in an ocean.”
I understand what he intended to say that time. He did not mean that if he studied in Indonesia instead, he would feel like a big fish in a small pond. I don’t even want to deny that he might feel that as well, but I do not want to take it that way. He meant that the bigger the place, the more diverse the people, the smaller you would feel. As it is being said I believe that both of the pictures show a different phase of our lives. The first one, the picture where the goldfish swims in a small aquarium. I believe that it is the phase of our lives where we are surrounded by the same people in the same environment for a long time. It is the time when we still go to the same middle school or high school with the same friends we went to the elementary school with.
On the other hand, the picture on the right where the small fish swims in a big bowl deputizes an advanced phase of your life. I believe it is a representation of being an adult. It is where you are exposed to a bigger world, stepping out of comfort zone by walking down to the world you are yet to see. I think it’s the time when you can’t just rely on others and start to see things more thoroughly, think more rationally and act more carefully. It might feel scary and lonely at first, but I think people will get used to these emotions and they would eventually adjust to the new environment they are living in. At this point, I believe people would feel as if they are mere dusts in the society. But as the time ticks, as the nature does its thing (which is selection), the chosen people would be able to swim freely because the world is just so big and there are potential things to be explored.
If this picture depicts what I think it means, then I am certainly sure I used to be the goldfish on the left, someone who’s trapped and caged in a small world, unable to move freely or express themselves. This was me when I used to live in Qatar. My daily routine was repetitive, unable to seek out for new things which perhaps may be due to the fact that the country itself is small. I felt caged because my parents were overprotective which means I wasn’t as free to move around wherever I want like the goldfish on the right. Fortunately for me, I’m 100% happy on where I am in my life right now. I feel like the goldfish on the right. From one perspective, I feel small (the fish on the right is smaller than the one on the left) as though I’m a foreigner in my own country. On the other hand, I feel like I am free of making my own decisions on where I want to go or what I want to do. The sky is the limit, I can explore as much as I want now!
At this point in my life, I think I’m the fish in the small bowl. I still think the people around me that are affected by my life are quantitatively small. Of course it matters, as I grow older and my influence I have grows, the bigger my fishbowl gets, when we are a small, the people that are compared by the things we do are small; we get applauded for simple stuffs: brushing our teeth, folding our clothes, but as we get older, the things we need to do to get recognized will also increase. At earlier points in m life, I’m the fish in the small bowl, but I guess the bowl was even smaller.
I wish I can be a fish that grows with the aquarium size, so I don’t get left behind on what life standard is at that point in time. Always being prepared and ready.
Looking at those two goldfishes, I straightway positioned myself as the small fish in the big bowl. My world has changed so much after entering university. I realized that there are so many things I haven’t discovered and experienced yet. The university is a whole new world. There are so many people at my age that has gone through more things than me and that’s when I realized that I’m just a small element in this vast community. On the other hand, I see the former picture as someone who thinks that they have everything on their hand. This situation might be a disadvantage, as we could feel more superior to others. When I first saw the picture, one thing that came to my mind was one of Coldplay’s songs called ‘Lost!’ from the album Viva La Vida. The lyrics goes, “You might be a big fish in a little pond, doesn’t mean you’ve won, cause along may come a bigger one” which correlates to the picture shown above. The lyrics remind us to remember that you aren’t always better than everyone else; there must be other people who are above you.
From my perspective, I think that the little fish in the large bowl represents being in a new, wide and unfamiliar environment that has so much stuff for it to roam around and explore and challenge itself with. Being in a university as big as UGM and still adjusting to the streets of Yogyakarta makes me identify with the little fish. This city is so big compared to the small one I lived back in Kalimantan. There’s so much of it I don’t know that it’s almost scary really. And yet, it excites me to think about all the memories I’ll make here as I explore and get used to it. Whereas the big fish trapped in the small bowl represents the problem of being too comfortable in its comfort zone, with the small bowl it has separated itself with. It was a problem I used to face when I was a kid. Because of my shyness, I didn’t really push myself to take risks and join clubs or the activities I wanted to, which is something I find myself regretting about a lot.
At this point in my life, it feels like I’m a small fish in a big pawn and that is exactly the way I like it. Before, when I was still living in Amsterdam, I did everything on automatisms and before I knew I wasn’t even thinking anymore about what I was doing. You could say that I was a big fish in a small bowl back then. At some point I decided that I wanted to do a little bit more with my life and I made the decision to move to Indonesia. I applied for a scholar ship for Universitas Indonesia and got it, but once I was there I realised I made a big mistake: I didn’t like Jakarta nor Depok at all. Therefore I went to Jogjakarta and applied for UGM, I again got a scholarship from my government and I started a new life over here. A decision I do not (yet) regret.
In my opinion, being a big fish in a large aquarium is a stage where we become arrogant individuals in a small community, there are not many competitors and we feel to be the biggest. This is the stage that I felt when I was in high school. I used to live in a school that has three floors. The first floor is a class and the second to third is a dormitory. After three years of living in a dormitory, I realized that the outside world was not as easy as I thought. There are so many life challenges that are increasingly changing. At first I felt that the character of the person was not as much as I thought but in fact the character of the person varied. During this time, I felt life like a small fish in a big aquarium. I realized that this world is broad and not as easy as we think. I am determined to step out of my comfort zone because the comfort zone is the zone that kills us slowly. Being successful is not an easy thing, we must fight and stay humble.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, life is like being a fish in a sea. Of course, in certain communities you would feel like you’re a fish in an aquarium, since the people there are people you know, or because it’s a small community. However, I feel that in life there are always things or new areas that you can explore. There are always new places to discover and new things to do. I really feel like sometimes people like to limit themselves, and that is the reason they would feel really suffocated, like being in a small aquarium. I think you need to be positive and search for things that would make you feel happy. You could also talk to new people so that you would realize that this world is an incredibly huge world filled with opportunities. Surrounding yourself with people that would support you could also help in figuring both yourself and the kind of life you want to live out.
ReplyDeleteBeing a big fish in the small bowl means that you have a great role in a community. On the pther hand, smalla fish in the big aquarium is the opposite. You are a quite person jn ajn a community with less role. Me, as a person, can be a different person base on the situation. Sometimes i do a big role, and sometimes, i only listen, but not quite, and only take a small part of the community. For example, sometimes i recognize myself being in a community that most of my mate in that community is a person that doesn't want to participate much. So, in this kind of situation i usually take a big part of the community, because if i don't the community will not grow bigger. I feel like i have to take charge in this community. Second, if i'm in a community that most of the member is a person who wants to take a bigger role or wants to take charge in the community, than i prprefer to stand back, because if i also obtrude to be the leader, and all of the members also want to be the leader, the community will break apart, and cannot grow also. So, i usually adapt with the condition of a community, so the community will not stuck in a one condition.
ReplyDeleteWhy did I saw the goldfish in the big aquarium as me? Am I the only one? Feels like I am stuck in this huge world and I will forever be small and alone if I do nothing. I used to think that I am that goldfish in small aquarium. I am a cheerful and positive person living in a small world with only me and the world is moving around me. Now I tend to think that I am small and I don't have anything that I could do to grow myself so that I could be a better person. The standards and limitations that I can doi is just too complicated to handle. After graduating, I started to think that I have a bigger responsibility and I just feel like I have to always please others in order to please myself. Before, I was completely careless and always did something only for myself. I did things to make myself happy. Few days ago, I'm on this stage where I think that maybe that's just how life works. You did things for others, and not for yourself. But a few days later I realize that I was drowning in my own thoughts and that's not what is happening now.
ReplyDeleteSabrina, I read your comment on this post and it made me feel emotional. All I can say, please, don’t ever feel that you’re small in this world. The world is evolving but that does not mean it’s leaving you all alone. In fact, it’s leading you to something greater, something good for you. You should not feel like there’s nothing left in you to be a better person. There is always something that you can do to be a better person. If I have to be honest, you are already a better person everyday and every time you spread positivity for your friends and families or even strangers around you. It is true that as we grew older, we will meet with greater responsibility including stopping being a selfish person. Putting ourselves first may be a good thing, but to put others first in any possible circumstances will always be a noble thing to do.
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DeleteSalsa, I would like to thank you for cheering me up. I did not expect you to reply my comment but then you told me that you wrote one so here I am. I wrote that comment pouring what has been inside my brain for a long time thinking that I would never be a better person. I remembered when we went to Gudeg Bromo, I asked you about how to be a cheerful person like you, and you give me some tips and life advice. So eventhough you were feeling sad at that time, you still have the energy to cheer me, Mila and Khanza up. Salsa, all I want to say is that you should be as bright as you are right now, and you should not let anyone be who you're not now. Always be the cheerful person I know now. Wishing you tons of happiness, Salsa!
I think the picture above represents the different types of environment that are exposed to us. I think the different size of the tank represents the different types of environment. At the early stage of life, we live in a “smaller tank” because the environment that is exposed to us is our family and maybe relatives. As time went by the tank also grew bigger and bigger, meaning that we are not only exposed to our family but also our friends and strangers, whom we met in our life. The size of the fish also represents our progress in each of the environment. You may start as a smaller fish with little knowledge and less experience, but over time, with the help of the people in our environment that shape our way of thinking, we gradually grow into a bigger fish. As for me in my previous point, I was the fish in the small tank. I was limited to a small community during my time in high school because my school community is very small compared to other schools in my area. I was constricted to a small community, which doesn’t give me as many experience and knowledge as now. As I transition into a college student, I realized that there are so many things to discover. I get to learn many things like how to be part of an event committee and also some other practical skills that I don’t get to learn in high school. I think the message that the picture is trying to say is that along the way we are most likely exposed to the new environment and we have the choice to adapt and discover new things within our time being in the environment or feel down because we are no longer the special person/the bigger fish in our fish tank.
ReplyDeleteSeeing this picture makes me think of the two stages of my life which is living with my family back in Jakarta and living alone in Yogyakarta to attend college. I would say that the fish in the small bowl represents my life before I attend college. Back then I do not have many responsibilities. Whenever I have problems that I can’t solve I always ask my mom on how to finish it, and because of that I didn’t pay attention to the environment around me as much as I do right now. The world that I know at that time was smaller compared to what I’m facing now. In the present days, I can relate myself as the fish in the big bowl full of water. I’m starting to see the change of the environment around me and realize that if I don’t do something about it, I will not survive. Therefore, I have to improve my sense of survival in order to go through this vast world that is full of challenges.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of the picture would be that the big fish in the small aquarium can not evolve anymore or growth and possibly get better, can be a metaphor of the comfort zone where it’s small and cosy but where there is no opportunity to growth intellectually or in more general term evolve in life, and it is time to look for a new challenge, new opportunity and new environment if you want to evolve.
ReplyDeleteThe second fish is smaller and it much bigger aquarium that the first fish, it has more space to potentially grow, and explore new things, can face competition and challenge, it’s scarier of course to feel small and maybe lonelier in some way but facing challenge is the only way to potentially get better.
I think I feel more like the small in the big aquarium, lot of potential opportunity and new things to do, in contrast when I was in High-school I used to live in a small town with few opportunities to grow I was feeling more like the big fish in a small aquarium.
Looking at the picture, I can see myself as the smaller fish in the bigger bowl at this point in my life. Just like the small fish in a big bowl, I feel like my life now is provided with a lot of new opportunity to explore. Just like the fish could possibly wander around the big bowl, I took the change to explore a lot of opportunity. However, for me, taking opportunities means carrying a lot of responsibilities which sometimes stress me out. If we look closely to the fish in the big bowl, the fish is looking at another fish in smaller bowl. That’s exactly what I feel right now as I feel burdened with too much responsibilities and if I could just make my “bowl” smaller. Earlier when I was in high school. I felt like the fish in the really small bowl. I was limited to some opportunities. In high school I feel like I didn’t have a chance to explore a lot of opportunities because I had to focus on my study to graduate and get into a good college. However, life was much easier during those days I was in high school, just like how easy it is the fish to get food or oxygen from the surface since it is not far away.
ReplyDeleteI guess that in some communities it might be more difficult to evolve, for example because of the lack of access to education, therefore some people might feel like a fish which is too big for its aquarium. But in my opinion, the world is too big to be limited to an aquarium. I think that, as it as been said in a comment above, life is more like being a fish in the ocean. Nowadays, with the technologies and how it is way easier than before to go everywhere, the number of opportunities is almost endless. There are always new places we can go to, new people we can meet, or new experiences we can try.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a village and I think that at that time I was like a fish in an aquarium. I liked that, I was in my comfort zone, surrounded by my family and friends. But I believe that going out of our comfort zone is even better as it helps ourselves to evolve and discover a lot of new things.
A big fish in a small bowl, or a small fish in a big bowl ? Well i think there are many answers to these kinds of analogy. To be honest i am used to see things from two sides of view. Not being perfectly open minded and accept every little thing i hear, but i open the possibilities other than just on way of sight. In my opinion, they are two same creatures. Small or big bowls, they remain fish. The size is just how you see it. So in my ideology, nothing or nobody is more special than others. We are all the same and we are all equal. None of us should feel more pride within himself or herself and show more arrogance. Because we are all limited by one same thing in this life, which is time. And we are all haunted by the same ghost and the only true ghost we shall fear, which is death.
ReplyDeleteYes we were born different, either what date or what family we come from, but we are all still just as much as a human or a person as everybody else. We have to treat everybody all according to how a human should be treated. Because we are a social beings that need each other. We were not born to be all on our own. As of now, I don't feel like a small or a big fish in any bowls, I just feel like a fish that has so much water available to explore and to enjoy to its finest bit. Time passes by and things change, but we should still be honestly the same to ourselves. It is just the matter of how we face occasions that makes it all feel different. This world is out there for us to explore and this analogy the world is imaged with the water. So no matter which fish we feel alike, the adventure awaits. And Indonesia is full of yet unexplored adventures that craved to be found by the Indonesian people.
DeleteSeeing those two goldfish in the image presented above, I assume that the big goldfish in the small tank in these context represents someone who is unable to grow further due to limited opportunities whereas the small goldfish in a big tank represents someone who is yet reached their full potential and are able to continue their journey in look for opportunity and individual growth. As of now, I believe that I am the “small goldfish” as I just recently able to be admitted to one of the best University in Indonesia as an international undergraduate student. As an IUP students at University Of Gadjah Mada, I am able to get massive opportunities to further hone my knowledge and skills while also being eligible to attend international exposure program. As an individual who lived on my own, I also learn about living on my own without being fully dependent on my parents.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the picture, I immediately positioned myself as a small fish in a large fish bowl. Maybe I thought that myself was just an ordinary person, who didn't really affect my surroundings , even though the environment was very broad and I had the opportunity to develop. Unlike the big fish in the small fish bowl, in my opinion, it describes a person who has a strong intention to develop and improve life, even though the surrounding environment is less supportive of him. Here, I begin to realize how I put myself in my current environment. It seems, to maximize self-potential, I have to try well and never give up, so that I can take the opportunity and make it a factor that drives me to develop into a better person. Of course, in my efforts to develop, there are many responsibilities that I must not forget and of course always remember people who supported me.
ReplyDeleteI would like to express my vision of those goldfish which is placed in a different place. My first point will interpret about the space. However, without any differentiate all of Gods’ creatures, like a fish, they can’t ask the human for any request. They just follow what the human want. If someone wants to put the fish in a pond for example, so they can reach all of the places freely. But, if someone decides to put the fish on a small aquarium, sincerely, the space will not as narrow as the pond has. So, I could say that, people always have their own capacity and limitation. If I were a fish, i think my aquarium is the bigger one. My parents give me a lot of capacity to evolve, without giving some limitation of something. For instance, they give me a latitude to decide the boarding house that I should take. No matter how much it costs, the important one is that you feel comfort and you can study well there.
ReplyDeleteBased on that fact, all of the worth that I should reach depends on my decision. Back to those goldfish, They can sleep tight in the bottom of the the tank and eat happily until their body fulfills the space of aquarium. But, they would not have any experience around their space. They will don’t know what's happening there, and their growth which fulfill the aquarium surrounding symbolize that their life was over, because if they can survive, the space for them is not enough, and they will die. Simply, like someone when they have been given a lot of things with their parents, without any limitation, if they can use it very well, they will improve to be a successful person in the future. They won't do a lot of experience in the organization, events, studying, etc they will be a mean person. But, if their life just filled up with sleep, playing a game in their room, eat, never socialize to others, they will suffer soon. Even though, their parents always give a lot of money to them, it will not long lasting until they grow old. In conclusion, I would say that someone who gets that bigger place, must utilize their space wisely to be a great person soon.
DeleteI would consider myself a small goldfish in a big aquarium. I would say that the small goldfish in the bigger aquarium is able to grow bigger, and maybe meet new friends since there is still a large space for other fishes. Meanwhile, the large goldfish in the small aquarium thinks that he is the biggest fish and that he may not grow any larger since there is no more space available. My mother has always told me that it is always preferable to be someone who is considered small in a large world filled with opportunities, not only to learn but to grow as a person rather than being in a close-minded society where you may be considered as the smartest. Those who are the smartest in small societies may not have the eagerness to learn since they tend to feel like they have known everything. I guess this kind of mindset is one of the reasons why we would prefer studying in the top school, compared to being in an average school but become the smartest?
ReplyDeleteWhen I see these two goldfish, I see that I am now the fish in the big aquarium. It is because I feel that I am now entering a new chapter in my life, which is university life. University life reflects a big aquarium because university life is full of new experiences, new life, new chances, and new world. I feel that I got so many chances around me now that reflects the water around the fishes. I feel that I can swim into this university life and gain as many chances, experiences and the most important thing, friends, as possible. And also, this fish show that they are small in a big water, that reflects me because now I feel small in this university world and still have many things to figure out. However, I feel happy with this new life in university and willing to learn everything new here.
ReplyDeleteIn my point of view, I’m the goldfish in the large aquarium. The small one was the old me, the one who wants to be alone and play games all the time in my room. Although I got friends to play with, most of the time I like to play alone, trying new things, and with the following reason that my friends got bored easily. For me it’s okay, I’m used to being alone in a place that what I called “my room”. I rarely got out of the house, I only want to go out if there’s something I need to attend or that I personally want to. But rather than that, I’m already cozy in my personal space. But now in university, I’m the fish in the big aquarium. It’s because I’m just a small contribution in this huge world that I don’t even know of. And I need people to help me go to those places of what you called living, and I can’t do it alone, I need friends and more friends to be my companion to go through this university life that I’m already in.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, I can position myself as the goldfish in a big aquarium. I can see myself as that goldfish because moving to Yogyakarta has become a stepping stone for me to be exposed to a new environment. The big goldfish in a small aquarium shows a person inside their comfort zone, which can be described as me in Jakarta. Jakarta has become my comfort zone because I have lived my whole life there. I position myself as the small goldfish in a big aquarium because right now I am trying to explore the "big aquarium" and that is the environment of Yogyakarta. I also positioned myself as the small goldfish because the small goldfish can still grow, and that is me right now who just entered the college life, and having the main goal of becoming a better individual in terms of academics and social. In general, I can say that the big aquarium with a small goldfish is an analogy for every person that is exposed to the new environment, you are alone at first, with many empty spaces, but as time flies, you can grow and still add more goldfish to be near you, to fill up the space, until you feel like you are the big goldfish in a small aquarium, which symbolizes how you have made it your comfort zone.
ReplyDeleteWhat I see from this picture is that there are two fishes, one in a small fishbowl, another in a big fishbowl. Well that’s pretty obvious, but what we can interpret from this picture is that both fishes are in a limited space with nothing to explore. But one has less space compared to the other. If I were to chose one that shows where I’m at this point of life, or at least where I see myself at, I would say that I’m the goldfish in the small fishbowl. Why? Because I feel like that I am more restricted to anything compared to others. Not only that there are social expectancy and social norms, but I’ve also put myself in position where I can’t move freely. Not that I want to be in this position, but somehow I just ended up there. It doesn’t show that much, but I really feel it in exploring life. There is a lot of activities that I want to experience, but I feel like I'm being held back.
ReplyDeleteFrom the way I see it, the two fishes are friends, which is why they’re both facing each other. The big fish, was unfortunate and given a stuffy and poor environment to live in, which causes it to grow as much as the tank allows it to. On the other hand, the little fish got the better end, as it lives in a large tank all by itself. Due to its large space, the little fish can grow its potential (or it’s size) to as large as the tank allows it to. I feel much like the little fish in the large tank, as I am still exploring the full potential within me with the vast opportunities I have been granted at birth.
ReplyDeleteYet at the same time, I am looking at the other fish in the small tank, feeling bad that it’s potential is so constricted by the harsh conditions it has been given. I think a lot about the kids who could achieve and become so much if they were given the same opportunities as I am, but are unable to do so because they were born with harsh living conditions that disables them to pursue their dreams. They can only grow into the mold their tank has given them, whereas I can grow into whatever I wish to be.
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ReplyDeleteFrom my point of view, the big goldfish in the small bowl implies that you actually have a big potential, but your environment isn’t big enough to support your potential. As a result, you feel that you’re stuck in only one place with no room to grow yourself. As for the small goldfish in a big aquarium, means that you feel so small in such a big world. You feel like you’re just another fish in a big sea. Personally, at this point in my life I feel more like the small goldfish. When I look at the picture, I instantly realize that I am the small goldfish. It’s because I still try to figure out what I want to do with my life and I still adapt to the college environment. In college, I met a lot of people with such amazing personality and achievements. It made me realize I’m still nothing in this world and that I should develop myself more. However, earlier this year, when I’m still in high school, I felt like I’m more of the big goldfish rather than the small one. The reason is when you’re in high school, you can’t develop your full potential because there are still things that confine you. You can always grow in any environment in your life, it is up to you what kind of person you want to be in this life.
ReplyDeleteAt this point in my life, I see myself as a small goldfish in a bigger bowl. As I entered a new chapter of my life and decided to live away from home and my loved ones, I feel that I need to be responsible for everything that I do. I need to be able to prioritize and decide on what is best for me. There are a lot of choices in life and I need to choose which path suits me well. This condition can be presented by the scenario from the article that I am the small goldfish and the huge bowl is all paths available in life and I swim across the water to find the right one. In the previous stage of my life, I believe that I am the bigger goldfish in a smaller bowl. “what’s best for my parents is also what’s best for me”, I used to believe that every decision made by my parents is good for me. Therefore, I used to be the huge goldfish in a smaller bowl because I have limited choices in life as everything is decided by my parents.
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing the picture above first I don’t really understand by what it means to be a goldfish in a small tank and a goldfish in a big tank, but after spending some time thinking of what could it possibly mean I think the goldfish in a small tank means you are living in your comfort zone where you probably already know how the things work around you like the people, the place, and etc. But the goldfish in a big tank I think means it is you but you are placed in a new bigger different place that you have to start again by knowing how things work around you and getting know people around you this means you have to adapt again to you surroundings. Personally I think right now I’m the goldfish in the big tank because I just recently moved to Yogyakarta and everything is totally brand new for me and I have to adapt to the surroundings.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the picture of a small goldfish in a big fishbowl and a big goldfish in a small fishbowl could be interpret in a lot of ways. You could see it in a personality perspective or in a different type of perspective. The first thing I thought of is that the big goldfish represents the negative trait of the human personality, and that personality is when people think full of themselves. Some of the examples are arrogance, haughty, superiority, and many others. On the other hand, as for the small goldfish, it actually represents the positive trait of the human personality, and that is when they are humble to themselves. The examples are when they are modest with other people, unpretentious, unobtrusive, and so on. Now as for the fishbowl, it actually represents how the community responds to these traits. If you think too highly of yourselves, only a certain amount of people will accept you. However, if you are humble to yourselves, the people will accept you with open arms and your community will be bigger than before.
ReplyDeleteThe second type of perspective that we could take from the picture of two goldfish with their difference in size and their fishbowl size, is the perspective of life. The two goldfish represent the two stages of life, one in which represents the childhood stage of a human life and the other one is the representation of the adulthood stage in a human life. The keyword for these representations is “dreams”. You see, when we were still a kid, we don’t really care for a lot of things and just enjoy our life to the fullest every day. And when we were still a kid, we would definitely dream a lot of things. One of the examples is that when we grow up, we could dream to be whatever we wanted to be, such as being a pilot, a doctor, a policeman, a fire fighter, etc. That’s what the small goldfish represents. And then, when we reach adulthood, we don’t really have that kind of dream anymore. The spaces of “dreams” that we have would get smaller and we have to think rationally what we wanted to be in the future. That’s what the big goldfish represents. Either way, we still could have a dream in our life but the range of those dreams would get smaller as we grew up.
DeleteAnother thing that I would like to comment about this peculiar picture is that there is one more perspective that I would like to add, and that is the environment perspective. Now what do these goldfishes actually represents if we connect it with our environment, it’s actually pretty simple. When we grew up in a place where we were born or where we lived in, we would definitely be familiar with the places that we already know and we would also get bored to visit the places that we already knew. To sum it up, we’re like the big goldfish in a small fishbowl. We are already too big for ourself to explore the places that we are familiar with and the size of exploration we have is pretty much small. However, if you moved to a different place, let’s say when you and your family move to a different region or when you study in a university outside of your town, the range of exploration is bigger than before you move to a new place. And because you are new to that place, you can discover a whole new experience that are different from your origin, just like the small goldfish in a big fishbowl. All in all, there are a lot of perspective that we could take from just one picture and there are sorts of ways we could interpret them.
DeleteThe beauty with these types of prompts is that no context is given so that audiences can see the two goldfishes freely in accordance to how they see it, resulting in diverse interpretations from a variety of different experiences. The way I see it, the two fish tanks simply represent the limits of an individual’s life; whether natural or imposed by something. I would have to say that my life has always been akin to the goldfish in the big fish tank, because I have never truly felt like someone or something ever limited my life. Maybe I can attribute this to the fact that my parents and my friends were always supportive of whatever action I choose to take, therefore making me feel like my options are always open. For instance, when I feel very anxious for an upcoming test, I do not feel like my life depends on it, instead, I have the rationalization that if I fail I will find other options that can cover said failure.
ReplyDeleteFrom my perspective, the big fish in a small aquarium means we live in an easy world when we are dealing with less complicated, small problems which are not proportionate to our potential. This means that we don’t need hard work to deal with the conflicts given to us. It is when the environment doesn’t challenge us enough, and therefore we don’t have to put much effort into being the best in the small world. This is where the situation demands less than what we can achieve, or in other words, the environment doesn’t demand our full potential. Therefore, we don’t have to do at our maximum capacity to be the best in the setting or surroundings. This is actually not a good thing because we don’t do the best we can and by that, we can’t grow or evolve to be better than before, or we cannot improve our capability in life.
ReplyDeleteWhile personally, I’m more on as the small fish in a large aquarium. It means that I’m a small and ordinary person, living in a big environment with complicated life or conflicts. The small fish represents how are we still vulnerable and hard to deal with problems, who is still helpless and still needs to evolve, trying our best to make contributions to the competitive environment, that we have to fight for our grand battle. We are exposed to competitors who have grown to be far better than us and have more potential than us, preventing us to be dominant in the environment. This is where we were dealing with bigger problems to solve, struggling so hard to survive, moreover to outshine the others who have higher capabilities than us. We aren’t the best in the environment, but I think that is is better than being a big fish in a small aquarium, because by being challenged we can grow and be better.
DeleteWhen i was still in high school, i considered my self to be a big fish who lives in a small bowl of aquarium. It happened because i feel like high school’s life is kind off monotonous. In the stage of high school, all i did is basically just go to school in the morning, studied in the afternoon, and go home in the evening, and it keeps on happening for three years straight. Although i still considered it as a great experience, but still this kind of daily routine is sometimes makes me feel a bit restricted. Meanwhile in college life, i considered my self to be a fish who lives in a big bowl of aquarium. Why? because here we got plenty amount of time to explore a new opportunity and idea to advance our self. In college, i have more time to actually focused and pursued my hobby and do activities that i could not ever done in my high school life.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see these two kind of places for the fish, I immediately imagine myself as the fish in the big aquarium. I have always been the person that want to try something new, experience new things, and be an open person. And also, I have always like myself being with a lot of people and in a big environment. So those reasons are the first reasons why I chose the fish in the big aquarium. The second reason is that because now, I am entering a new chapter in my life, which is university. I am very happy for entering this university, UGM, because it has been one of my biggest dream, so we can say that now I am living one of my dream. The reason why this reflects to the fish in the aquarium is because this new university life is a big environment and I feel small in this new environment. But, I am very willing to learn everything new here and be the best I could
ReplyDeleteBefore, I used to think that I am a big fish in a small bowl, it’s before I moved to Jogja, to live on my own, without any supervision from parents or family members since none of my family members live here, since at home, I think that I’ve had lots of experience since my life at home was considered as monotonous for me since it’s only go to school, studying all day long and at 4 o clock went back home and playing games with my friend, without the need to worry much about my surroundings and what’s happened around me. However, now it’s much different since I started to realise that life isn’t as monotonous as I observed back then before I attend college. Since now, I do feel that I am a small fish in an absolutely huge bowl called as life. I started to think that I haven’t explore much and therefore, I need to pay more attention on my surroundings since now I’m not surrounded by my families anymore since they’re mostly situated in Jakarta. The need to do things on my own, maintaining my financial health in order to be healthy throughout the month as well as the need to perform my responsibility which do increase which started to make me thinking that life is much more than I used to think before. Also, I started to realise that compared with others outside, I considered myself as not as good as I used to think so that the need to always update myself with information and skills as well as experience is needed in this wide and diverse society.
ReplyDeleteBeing a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond? When I was in school back in El Salvador, I felt like a big fish in a small pond. My life was so simple back then and things came to me really easy. I was in the football team, I had the most popular guy as my boyfriend and grades were also fine, I use to think I was a big fish in my small world. After many years now I have discover how small I am in this big world, how hard it is to get accepted into a good university and that you are just one more little fish in this whole academic environment. However, I have to say, I realize how small I am just right now when applying for an internship. I am just an applicant more in this big pool of applications.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that comes to my mind when I saw the pictures is that I used to be the big fish in a small aquarium before I enter university, because my hometown is small, very comfortable and certain. And I thought to myself that even though I like it very much, it does not give me opportunities to grow, to pursue my goals and dreams. When I went into university I just realised that I am stepping out of my comfort zone. It is when I feel very much like a tiny fish in a big aquarium. The big aquarium represent many opportunities as well as obstacles that I'm going to face when I'm pursuing my objectives. The small fish is a depiction of my state of mind. In a big city I feel small and sometimes lonely even when I am surrounded by a lot of people. But I know it's all a part of a process and I do hope that it will eventually paid off someday.
ReplyDeleteVivi, I am writing this in Intro to Business class with you sitting behind me. You are such a smart and kind person. I still remember before mid exam, we used to study together in a coffee shop and you always amaze me. At that time I did not understand anything but we solve so many questions together and at the end of the day I am finally able to understand it all. Especially with Accounting, you are doing such a great job and I am still even now. In the future, I hope that we'll be able to get along well and I really want us to be able to pursue our dreams, and also do something that we always wanted to do. Stepping out of your comfort zone is not easy I know, but eventually you will learn so many new things that will makes you a better person in the future.
DeleteAnyway Vivi, let's study together for the final exam! I am so excited to be able to study with you!
Hi sab! I did not know you replied on my comment until you told me couple of days ago. Thank you so much for the heads up, Sabrina! You are such a good friend and fun study partner indeed :) all these process of stepping out of my comfort zone surely was not as hard as I thought before when I have a supportive friend like you. I never thought I could amaze someone so thank you for your sincere compliment. I want to say that our study session before midterm exam was very helpful for me too! Thanks to you I could ace my statistic midterm exam! Honestly I am nowhere doing 'a great job' in accounting but I thank you once again for your kind words. I am looking forward to tiresome & endless study session to prepare final exam with you and also the others. I hope whatever our dreams are, we can make it come true. Wish you tons of luck and happiness!
DeleteAfter reading the comments section of this article I realized that people have their own interpretation of the picture, and this really amuses me. Some stated that the big goldfish in the small tank represents a their younger point of life where there was not any life problems that needed to be fix on their own. Some also stated that it represents a position in life where there is not any space left to grow, evolve, and explore. And some even stated that it was a the idea of fitting in society. From my point of view, I saw myself in the position where I am the small goldfish in the big tank, which is really different from my highschool days. I grew up in a small city not knowing how big the world actually is. This causes me to think as if I was a big goldfish in a small tank. But my once I am in college I realized that i was wrong to think that I know the outside world.
ReplyDeleteYeah just like anybody else, the smaller fish who lives in a larger aquarium is a state of mind when you’re feeling small compared to the world and problems that you’re going to overcome. It makes you more aware of your self and makes you feel like you need to work hard so that you can have a place in the huge community. Feeling like you’re alone, without your mom and dad ready to back you up whenever you confronted a problem with every resources that you and your family has. Seeing a bigger fish in a smaller bowl means the opposite of that, you will feel like you’re dominant in every aspect in your life, which is really relaxing and very comfortable.
ReplyDeleteBut if we see the aquarium as the boundaries for us to develop our self. I prefer to live in a larger aquarium so I can experience more. Living in a larger aquarium gave us the opportunity to observe more, exploring something and having a new experience so I can be a better fish, or maybe a stronger one. I really grateful because God gave me the opportunity to exit my comfort-zone and living my life as an independent person. After all, we’re all just a human, we’re just a common thing.
It is very hard to determine what each aquarium represent. It can be defined in many ways and different perspective. However, after thinking through it I think that the big fish in a small aquarium means that you are suffocating which can also be connected to stress and the second aquarium means that we are relax because we have so many rooms to breathe. Currently, I would compare myself to the big fish in a small aquarium. University is a new experience for me and the homework is very different compared to high school. My high school was so free and there was almost no homework. In university, I almost must hand in my homework everyday which gives me pressure and I cannot have a lot of leisure. Being in a high school that lets their student do what they want probably to affect this. Since I am used to being lazy during high school and become a fish in a big aquarium, I am probably surprised by this new experience. Hopefully I can change and get used to this new system though!
ReplyDeleteLooking at the pictures above, it gave so many perspectives in interpreting it, and I think everyone have their own perspective when they look at the picture. However, for me this pictures shows two independent characters who are living in two separate environments and both of the characters are facing the complete opposite condition. The goldfish in the left side shows that he has the capability to do a much bigger thing being represented by the size of its body but the goldfish is limited by the environment. On the other side, the goldfish is very small meanwhile there is a lot of room for the goldfish to go around, but they are looking at each as if both of them are not comfortable in their own environment. From this simple representation, the point that I would like to take is that the condition that we are facing may not always goes as we planted.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, what we need to do is to be grateful towards what we already have, and maximize what we have. Our environment may not always act the same as we expected, and so what we also need to do is for ourselves to adapt to our environment and maximize what we have already. If I’m ask in which condition am I facing? it will be the one that is on the right because, I feel like right now I am sitting in a new environment with a whole lot of opportunities to be explored, I have to adapt to the new system while also be thankful to many things that I already have. This picture also reminds me that I’m not the only one that are facing hard times with the condition in my environment, there will always be someone who is being put in a much harder condition than the one that I am facing.
DeleteMy interpretation of the illustration shown above is that the big goldfish in the small tank represents the life of a person who thinks that he has seen and explored the whole world. While the small goldfish in a large tank illustrate an individual that thinks that there’s still a lot to discover. At this point in my life, I could visualize myself as the small goldfish in the large tank; because since I moved to Yogyakarta for university, I realised that there’s more to this world than just going to school, finishing school tasks and studying, playing computer games, competing in futsal competitions, as well as training at the gym and pool. The things I just mentioned was my everyday routine when I was in high school. I realised that the world is not a small place. There’s still much things that I should learn and understand. For example, since I moved here, I need to adapt with my new surroundings; and break down the barriers of improvement. Therefore, now I believe that nonstop discovery and constant improvement is necessary survive and excel in life.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation on the whole thing is that as people grow older, the more their free time will be filled with activities that leave them with very little room to breathe or even allocate for their happiness to take place. In this case, it is only logical to think that people have always started their journey living in a giant aquarium, only to grow and be overwhelmed by the responsibilities that they have to bear in exchange of earning a living for themselves. However, just because your world gets smaller, doesn’t mean that you can’t develop the mind-set that you once had when you were still a child. Despite the overwhelming tasks that stand in front of you, waiting for you to finish them, such “explorer” mind-set will provide you with the additional energy you need to keep you awake at night while everyone is too deep in their sleep due to the exhaustion that they got from working long hours of work. This additional energy is up to your decision to make whether you’re going to utilise it to explore the world further by feeding your curiosity through reading books, or perhaps spend it on activities that can help you regain the spirit which you have lost during your daytime work.
ReplyDeleteThis picture is very open to interpretation. From the way I see it, I perceive the goldfish as human and the tank as human environment. I interpret the goldfish inside the small bowl as an individual being in the state of plateau. It is as if an individual stop progressing because it has completed a certain level of milestone. achievement. The point where the goldfish is no longer able to move inside the small bowl is the time where the goldfish should be moved to a larger bowl. Staying in comfort zone, or staying in the state of plateau will not lead to growth. Notice that placing goldfish in such small tank will eventually lead to death. On the other hand, the small goldfish located in the big tank represents growth. The small goldfish inside the big tank will have the ability to swim, explore the tank and grow. As for now, I see perceive myself as the small goldfish in the small tank. The world is wide and there are a lot of things to explore. Life is full of challenges and I am a firm believer that if an individual is determined to grow, he or she needs to constantly strive for new challenges. Staying in comfort zone will not get us anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI think I may have feel both condition at the same time. I always feel like a big goldfish inside a small aquarium when I’m with my family. Both my parents are super protective with their children, especially me, since I’m the oldest child and the most rebellious in the family. “Don’t do this” “Don’t do that”, I’m used to that kind of words. Sometimes it’s so frustrating and tiring being curbed like that, and the worst part is that I can’t do anything to change it. But vice versa, when I’m apart from my family and being with my friends and acquaintances, I feel like I’m a small goldfish inside a big aquarium. Sometimes I feel so small compared with my friends who already experienced a lot of thing i never experienced before. I always learn something new while socializing, seeing the world through different perspective. It is nice though, I think it becomes balanced since I felt both way.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I feel like a small fish in a big tank rather than a big fish in a small tank. For me a big fish in a small tank implies an individual that wants to grow more but there are not enough room for improvement so that the individual can’t grow anymore. On the other hand, a small fish in a big tank means that an individual has lots of rooms for improvement but that individual just wont grow. Being a student in Gadjah Mada University is a really good opportunity and it enables us to have a very big room for improvement. I feel like I can grow substantially here but the thing that stops me from growing is my laziness. I always procrastinate, and It has done damage to my grades. The source of the problem for me is my own self, not the lecturers, the friends, or other external counterparts.
ReplyDeleteI definitely see myself as the goldfish in the big aquarium. Being in Gadjah Mada University means stepping out of my comfort zone and the fact that I don't know anyone here made it even worse. I know that each students are having their own problems and challenges in their world and in this particular stage of life, everyone felt that they are the goldfish in the big tank. Moving to a new city, new living space, new environment, new friends, etc. I don't think any of us are feeling like the fish in the small tank. But now, 4 months has passed and I think everyone is feeling a tad bit better than before, we get along better, we can follow the college life cycle with all it's assigments and homework. I do wish the best of luck for everyone and may the odds be ever in your favor.
ReplyDeleteImagine if human are fishes in the water. Some might see themselves as a big fish in a small aquarium; feeling huge enough in keeping with the world. The aquarium is our boundary of dreams, ergo when that dreams have been achieved, it is enough for us and we will have no intention to be more than we currently are. Whereas to think like the small fish in a big aquarium, we might live with immense dreams and wishes, but we feel too small to achieve our dreams. The condition gives us a chance to grow bigger, to give more space for the other to come, to share each other lessons and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteApart from both circumstances, I’d rather be a fish in the ocean. My dreams will be to reach the Great Barrier Reef, but if that has been achieved, I am going to find another place as there is nothing called a limited sea. When I need others, I just got to find another place and not just wait for them to come by themselves.
Reading the comments above got me contemplating more about my life. I thought I was the only one who, as a matter of growing up, feeling more like the small fish in the big bowl. College for me is such a fun ride, so far. I get to discover new things, and go beyond my comfort zone. Some people perceive being a small fish in the big bowl as a negative thing, feeling small and not knowing where to go, or in this representation, where to swim. But I guess as we arrive on this world, we’ve always been that small fish. Life most likely isn’t just a big bowl, but a whole sea. What’s different is that when we were younger, there are other fishes to guide us through, meanwhile adulating means that we get to swim freely, to which ever ocean we aim to be. We have a whole sea of possibilities in this new world we've just been exposed to. Our next step is to survive the waves, not letting ourselves drown in the deep blue sea.
ReplyDeleteRight now I feel like I am a small fish in a big aquarium. After get in to the collage life I see a lot of things that I can join and discover my potential that I never know even though there are some restriction and rules I must follow since I still live with my parent. It’s oddly similar when I was first get in to high school. It’s always feels Like I will find some thing new about myself through out my schools life. In the end of my high school life I learn many things and a new hobby that related to technology in general like building a computer or playing games with friend. Now that I am in collage, there will be more things I can join since my study schedule not as tight as my high school schedule. Maybe I will start with deepening my knowledge about coding and try many event.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment, I feel like I’m that goldfish inside a large aquarium because as soon as I entered university, there were just so many things that I learnt about life and university itself and still a lot of other things awaiting to be learnt by me. I guess if I have to compare back then in high school and university, I would be the goldfish inside the small aquarium back in high school because I was in the same environment with the same typical Chinese people who are open-minded yet have a small amount of knowledge of the world outside. They are definitely smart people when it comes to the school subjects, but they knew little about the outside world as their environment was the same as mine also for about six years. I am actually glad that I get to be a goldfish in a large aquarium now because it decreases my arrogance about knowledge of many things and makes me want to explore a lot of other things in this world.
ReplyDeleteSeeing this “goldfish in the aquarium” imagery really makes me remember the old days in high school. In my first year, in the second term to be exact, I met a very diligent, smart, and most determined person ever. His name is Kevin Govinda. Even though it hurts me to admit it and despite what everyone said about him, he was (and is still) my role model as a student. I had always wondered on how such a person could be so visionary, especially about his studies and what he wanted to be in the future. I envied him a lot because I felt that he had a lot of opportunities opened for him, that he prepared for everything by two or three steps ahead of most of us. Now he’s studying in University of Malaya, taking economics as his major just like me. I had a call with him a few weeks ago and he said, “Studying here feels like I’m a small fish in an ocean.”
ReplyDeleteI understand what he intended to say that time. He did not mean that if he studied in Indonesia instead, he would feel like a big fish in a small pond. I don’t even want to deny that he might feel that as well, but I do not want to take it that way. He meant that the bigger the place, the more diverse the people, the smaller you would feel. As it is being said I believe that both of the pictures show a different phase of our lives. The first one, the picture where the goldfish swims in a small aquarium. I believe that it is the phase of our lives where we are surrounded by the same people in the same environment for a long time. It is the time when we still go to the same middle school or high school with the same friends we went to the elementary school with.
DeleteOn the other hand, the picture on the right where the small fish swims in a big bowl deputizes an advanced phase of your life. I believe it is a representation of being an adult. It is where you are exposed to a bigger world, stepping out of comfort zone by walking down to the world you are yet to see. I think it’s the time when you can’t just rely on others and start to see things more thoroughly, think more rationally and act more carefully. It might feel scary and lonely at first, but I think people will get used to these emotions and they would eventually adjust to the new environment they are living in. At this point, I believe people would feel as if they are mere dusts in the society. But as the time ticks, as the nature does its thing (which is selection), the chosen people would be able to swim freely because the world is just so big and there are potential things to be explored.
DeleteIf this picture depicts what I think it means, then I am certainly sure I used to be the goldfish on the left, someone who’s trapped and caged in a small world, unable to move freely or express themselves. This was me when I used to live in Qatar. My daily routine was repetitive, unable to seek out for new things which perhaps may be due to the fact that the country itself is small. I felt caged because my parents were overprotective which means I wasn’t as free to move around wherever I want like the goldfish on the right. Fortunately for me, I’m 100% happy on where I am in my life right now. I feel like the goldfish on the right. From one perspective, I feel small (the fish on the right is smaller than the one on the left) as though I’m a foreigner in my own country. On the other hand, I feel like I am free of making my own decisions on where I want to go or what I want to do. The sky is the limit, I can explore as much as I want now!
ReplyDeleteAt this point in my life, I think I’m the fish in the small bowl. I still think the people around me that are affected by my life are quantitatively small. Of course it matters, as I grow older and my influence I have grows, the bigger my fishbowl gets, when we are a small, the people that are compared by the things we do are small; we get applauded for simple stuffs: brushing our teeth, folding our clothes, but as we get older, the things we need to do to get recognized will also increase. At earlier points in m life, I’m the fish in the small bowl, but I guess the bowl was even smaller.
ReplyDeleteI wish I can be a fish that grows with the aquarium size, so I don’t get left behind on what life standard is at that point in time. Always being prepared and ready.
Looking at those two goldfishes, I straightway positioned myself as the small fish in the big bowl. My world has changed so much after entering university. I realized that there are so many things I haven’t discovered and experienced yet. The university is a whole new world. There are so many people at my age that has gone through more things than me and that’s when I realized that I’m just a small element in this vast community. On the other hand, I see the former picture as someone who thinks that they have everything on their hand. This situation might be a disadvantage, as we could feel more superior to others. When I first saw the picture, one thing that came to my mind was one of Coldplay’s songs called ‘Lost!’ from the album Viva La Vida. The lyrics goes, “You might be a big fish in a little pond, doesn’t mean you’ve won, cause along may come a bigger one” which correlates to the picture shown above. The lyrics remind us to remember that you aren’t always better than everyone else; there must be other people who are above you.
ReplyDeleteFrom my perspective, I think that the little fish in the large bowl represents being in a new, wide and unfamiliar environment that has so much stuff for it to roam around and explore and challenge itself with. Being in a university as big as UGM and still adjusting to the streets of Yogyakarta makes me identify with the little fish. This city is so big compared to the small one I lived back in Kalimantan. There’s so much of it I don’t know that it’s almost scary really. And yet, it excites me to think about all the memories I’ll make here as I explore and get used to it. Whereas the big fish trapped in the small bowl represents the problem of being too comfortable in its comfort zone, with the small bowl it has separated itself with. It was a problem I used to face when I was a kid. Because of my shyness, I didn’t really push myself to take risks and join clubs or the activities I wanted to, which is something I find myself regretting about a lot.
ReplyDeleteAt this point in my life, it feels like I’m a small fish in a big pawn and that is exactly the way I like it. Before, when I was still living in Amsterdam, I did everything on automatisms and before I knew I wasn’t even thinking anymore about what I was doing. You could say that I was a big fish in a small bowl back then. At some point I decided that I wanted to do a little bit more with my life and I made the decision to move to Indonesia. I applied for a scholar ship for Universitas Indonesia and got it, but once I was there I realised I made a big mistake: I didn’t like Jakarta nor Depok at all. Therefore I went to Jogjakarta and applied for UGM, I again got a scholarship from my government and I started a new life over here. A decision I do not (yet) regret.
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