Just Keep Swimming

     Being told I remind someone of a blue, round-shaped fish with yellow fins and tails, wide magenta eyes, and black spots is not exactly what a girl loves to hear. Dory is a friendly, optimistic, innocent fish who forgets things every ten seconds, and that is where the resemblance with me lies. Finding Nemo is a Pixar movie with different characters who all show different perspectives on situations. Marlin is a clownfish who approaches difficult situations with careful analysis, spending a good amount of time thinking about every option there is, and then making a well-thought-out decision on how to proceed. For Dory, the best solution in her eyes is to just keep swimming. Marlin has lost his son, Nemo, and Dory being the kind hearted soul she is, persists on helping him find him. The search, like many things in life, is not exactly a piece of cake, and facing hard problems makes Marlin want to just give up. Each time Marlin feels as though he cannot keep continuing, Dory simply says to him, “Just keep swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.” When life throws us obstacles, it is easy for us to want to give up and quit. We all experience difficult situations, whether it be trying to find a missing son, or something like figuring out what to wear the next day. The natural reaction most of us have is feeling hopeless, and it is at this moment that being like Dory is key—we just need to keep swimming.

            Every fish becomes annoyed and swims away from Marlin, but not Dory. Beneath her sweet exterior, her relentless positivity makes her help him to the best of her ability. Regardless of the fact that she frequently forgets what she is doing, she still continues with a smile on her face. The main motivation pushing Marlin to keep going despite their struggles, is Dory’s positive outlook on life and her trust in the concept that the light at the end of the tunnel does exist. 

We all face situations where it feels as though we have no control. During quarantine in 2020, life seemed as though it would never get better. There was no end in sight. We were isolated, and our lives changed without warning. Having to stop seeing all my friends took away the little joys in my life that made me look forward to the next day. Losing the important connection to people in our life was not an easy thing to deal with. From old people being more susceptible to infection and being less capable of supporting themselves in isolation, to children feeling isolated and alone, the pandemic reached us all in some way. The stories of how it allowed families to spend more time together and people creating organizations to help the elderly get groceries shows us that the darkest of times is where it is most important to practice having a positive mindset, as hard as that may be. I have such a busy life with waking up early, going to school, going to dance, seeing my friends, and repeating it all the next day. Even in life today, when we have a bad day at school, get a bad grade, have an argument with a friend, or we are just plain sad. Appreciating the small things, the things that usually go unnoticed, is sometimes all that is needed to realize one day they were the biggest things in life. 

Dory is a hero. She brings optimism and hope to life when there seems to be none. She brought Marlin and Nemo back together and strengthened the relationship they had. Her wise words can save us all when we face challenges and bring a smile to our face no matter what. Maybe being told I am like Dory is not so bad after all. So, when life gets you down, do you know what you got to do? Just keep swimming.