I’ve been thinking about something lately, so I’m just gonna ramble a bit without organizing my thoughts too much.

So, I like fishing. And there’s this term we use called “jiai” — it means the time when fish are more likely to bite, like their meal time. But when I’m just sitting there, not catching anything, I find myself thinking things like, “Come on, you’re wild animals, right? If food’s in front of your face, just eat it! What’s with the whole ‘eh, I’m not really in the mood right now’ attitude? Who do you think you are? You’re a wild animal!!”

Anyway, change of topic — I used to be into aquariums. I had this big yellow snail, and after watching it for a while, I noticed it would climb all the way up to the surface of the tank and then just… dive off. Because of the shell, it would sort of float down gently. And it kept doing it over and over. I started thinking, “Wait… is it playing??” That was kind of a shock.

Also, you know mullets? Those fish that often jump out of the water? There are a bunch of theories about why they do that — like shaking off parasites, or escaping predators. But there’s one theory that says, “There’s no reason. They just feel like it.” And honestly, I believe that one. I think they just get excited or feel good and go, “Heck yeah, I’m jumping!”

What I’m getting at is this: I used to think wild animals lived in this constant high-stress survival mode — eat or be eaten, you know? But maybe they actually have more freedom than we think. Maybe they even have time to play. And now I’m starting to wonder if we humans are actually the ones who are constantly stressed out and out of breath.

So yeah. Maybe we should live more like wild animals — with a little more room to breathe, a little more time to just enjoy being alive.