Just in time for Christmas

“An old proverb tells us that

fish will be the last creatures

to discover water.

“Makes sense, right? 

Water is the only environment

fish know. 

“So to a fish water is simply

a given, something to be

taken for granted and

ignored. 

“Human beings are like

that.

“Except the water we take

for granted is family.

“By family I don’t mean

just the group of people

around us when we’re

born and raised. 

“I mean an emotional

environment, a way of

perceiving and feeling,

thinking and acting. 

“We depend on family,

not just for survival and

emotional feeding, but

for an understanding of

what the world is and

how to function in it.

“Family is the

psychological sea in

which we swim, the

only reality we know.

“So as kids we have no

choice but to adapt to it

and absorb it, to carry

it inside us everywhere

we go.

“And even when what

we absorbed causes

problems – makes us

unhappy or sick, for

example – we don’t

think to step back

and question it.

“Since it’s impossible

for children — and,

sadly, for most adults

— to see their family

objectively.” 

~ From the book