NOTHING IS TOO IMPORTANT

 

A man in a black suit and hat is fishing at a small pond. He is fishing but he doesn’t really pay attention to catch fish. Most of the time he is busy with writing something in his tiny notebook. When the fishing rod moves, he picks it up and removes the fish, throws it on the grass behind him instead of putting it in a water bucket. One fish, two fishes, three fishes, etc. He obviously doesn’t attempt to catch them because he just keeps the rod beside him and writes something passionately. A black cat appears behind the man quietly and slowly it gets closer and touches the fish, holds it tight in its mouth and sneaks out in silence. Then it comes back. One fish, two fishes, three fishes have gone. The man is still looking at his notes. I, as an observer and with a lot of curiosity, look in it too. I saw his letters “My joy today is……”. Finally the man stands up, picks an only fish left on the grass, and carries it home by his bucket. It’s obvious to me again that he was fully aware of some fishes having gone with the naughty cat and he let that happen because he had no surprise seeing what’s left for him.

 

His wife – a busy housewife, is cooking in the kitchen. She gets the fish from him, mumbling why he spent so much time outside at the pond and came home with only one fish. He smiles with her. They have fried fish and some other food on the table for dinner. Ohhh, see … the naughty big cat comes again and he gives it a piece of fried fish. Their little boy is playing around after the meal in reddish eyes of tears. He gots a bad mark for a test at school today and was so scared to hand that paper to his dad. The man, as he usually does, smiles with his boy. He says “well, nothing is too important”.

Time’s gone and his final day of life comes. He dies in serenity in the arms of his family members. And when his dead body is lying still on the bed, other people are having a light meal and are talking in pleasantness about their memories with him. There’s no tears of sadness but joy.

 

 

In the end, the observer – me, asked myself “What did the story tell me about?” My inner voice replied “Nothing is too important”.

Why? The man has his joy being noted and has his joy by making a good vibe for everything around him. The fishes have the joy to feel the grass and the air out of the water which they never have before. The big greedy cat has the joy to eat fishes and even a joy to think that it successfully stole fish from the man and pretended to be hungry to come again begging for a fried fish piece without the man knowing about everything. The wife has the joy to cook and mumble without a fight. The boy has the joy of growing up without being punished. That came from “Nothing is too important”. So, Ngan, what do you expect more than that?

 

But why does this story resonate to me, to what happened to my cats and what I did to them?

 

You had the joy to raise them and see them grow up. They had the joy to discover the world outside, like they played under the sunlight and grabbed leaves to take home. Your friend had the joy to play with the cats before they left. The new owner had the joy to celebrate the birthday party without being bothered by picking them up that day. The restaurant people had the joy of doing business. And even if your cats were eaten, at least those who ate them had the joy of having food, just like that family had fish for meals. Nothing is too important.

 

We don’t need to have a reason for something to become reasonable to happen, or to justify ourselves. We expect black or white but there’s also grey in nature. We expect certainty but uncertainty is a part of life and we definitely don’t need certainty to let go of something. BECAUSE NOTHING IS TOO IMPORTANT.