Wish Fish
I draw them because they make me smile!
They have names because I am either thinking of someone specific as I draw, or they look like a (name goes here) when they are completed, Other times, the fish emerge from my responses to the news of the day or as I reflect on my life and on the lives of those around me.
In my culture, fish symbolize abundance. Here, that abundance takes the form of a wish for the viewer, offered by each Wish Fish!
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Chai
The tumble of life can be beautiful, mysterious, and sometimes heartbreaking. It also invites us to explore - to dance with it, to grow into a new sense of aliveness and joy. What are we waiting for? "Yes" is a grand adventure!
"Chai" is made of many layers of different leaves, like a big, shady tree. The blue represents the rain that fosters our growth, contributing to our ability to thrive and offer shelter for others.
Wishing you a brave, curious, well-watered life!
"Chai" means "Life" in Hebrew.
Xaria
Those who offer shelter and who stick by us in bad weather are gifts in our lives. In their care, we flourish and also become shelter for others.
Shelter is represented by many kinds of leaves, in the shape of hearts. These make up Xaria’s body. A blue downpour and many light blue snowflakes symbolize a range of weather.
Xaria is a name that means “The gift of love” (American) and “connection, path” (Arabic).
Aliza
I love the birthdays of those dear to me. Celebrating them creates a fullness in me that feels like tossing playful confetti and delight from an overflowing heart.
Aliza is a Hebrew name that means "Joyful"
Tesha
Tesha (not her real name) is a very tiny person...only 20 days old when her Wish Fish was created. Born with multi-layered heart abnormalities into the arms of brave, loving parents, then NICU, then open heart surgery. Family and baby received a stuffed purple polka-dotted heart to wear and exchange so they can know the smell of each other. Tesha (the fish) is made of these hearts. Her upper body is the colors of sunrise because her life is just dawning. They are strong colors because she is a fighter. The yellow "stitching" is knotted at both ends with hearts, symbolizing that she has been created by love, and continues to be held together and connected by love. She is looking and pointing upward with a smile as a hope to hold.
Tesha is an Indian name meaning 'Happiness" and "Survivor".
Wishing you the courage of deep love and connection in those moments when we are faced with great challenge.
Ann
For one who has quite literally sung my back to life, Sunday after Sunday. Her music continues to hold me with exquisite beauty and strength. It's as if heaven opens up and sings over me.
Wishing you songs of joy at the core of who you are, songs that birth new life for you and all who hear you sing them.
Zahar
This delightful early morning dance of light on my wall only happens for a few weeks in the winter. I like the interplay of shadow and light - both are needed for visual interest. Each gives the other meaning and definition. Sometimes we get grumpy or feel shame about our personal shadows, as if life is supposed to be all light (Hm. That sounds flat, boring, and surreal, like pics with too much flash too close!).
Why not welcome both?
Wishing you gentle friendship with the light *and* shadows in your life.
"Zahar" is an Arabic name that means "Morning light" or "Shine, sparkle, bloom".
Zendaya
Gratitude is a deep fullness and joy. It can well up inside us till we don’t think we can hold any more and then still more comes. Wishing you the ability to stretch to hold as much as you can!
"Zendaya" is an African name that means "to give thanks".
Sadhana
The Wish Fish "Sadhana" is a visual explanation of my daily gratitude practice (a friend and I each post 5 things we are grateful for). It's been 4 years so far!
There are 365 horizontal lines and all 4 seasons because it is that dailyness that makes all the difference. Sadhana's fins and tail have snow/winter on them because it is in those colder, harsher times that practicing gratitude feels most valuable - and also hardest to do. She looks surprised and is sitting back with her eye popping out of her head because of the surprising ways God meets me in the gratitude and I see in a new way. I am changed. There is also the element of returning and returning again to the practice, captured in the arrows of the fins and tail.
Wishing you the determination to keep showing up where you know in your heart of hearts it really matters.
"Sadhana", a name that means "a discipline undertaken to attain desired knowledge or goal, long practice/study". Sanskrit origins.
Patti
For one who walks in more suffering than I can begin to imagine. A wish for strength and courage to meet all that comes.
Maybe that's you too?
When we feel like but a faint outline of ourselves, even in that silent place, our dreams and hopes (the watercolors) can be held. Perhaps there can be safety in the stillness? A hand-lettered poem forms a permeable border - defining, but not limiting. The fins and gills say "beloved", over and over, reminding us of who we are. How we need to breathe that in deeply when life feels too heavy to bear.
"I am an Outline"
I am an outline,
silent and still.
No color.
Eyes closed.
Suppressing dreams
Fearing disappointment
I dare not hope.
Sorrow too familiar
Darkness of loss
uncomfortably near.
If I think too long
overwhelm rushes in.
Save me.
Do not let me be overtaken.
Yet perhaps
maybe
possibly
some small bits of color
shreds of hope
tiny crumbs
can remain
held safe by the outline of the silence
in the midst of the storm
by One who knows
who treasures
who is near to
the beloved
heartbroken
shape
that
is
me.
"Patti" has Old Latin/Old French origins, meaning "persevering through difficult circumstances".
Aslam
“Aslam” is a name with Afghan origins. It means “Safer, freer”. This I pray.
Tears stream from Aslam's eyes as he swims forward with small, tattered fins and red-rimmed eyes. This prayer from PCUSA is for him and for so many others – especially the women - in Afghanistan.
For those who are fleeing: sanctuary
For those who are staying: safety
For those who are fighting: peace
For those whose hearts are breaking: comfort
For those who see no future: hope
Text was handlettered on paper, photographed, and then digitally collaged. Incorporating something tangible was important while creating this fish. There are real people with real lives and real loves caught in circumstances that may cost them their lives. I wanted to physically hold this prayer in my hands, beyond holding it in my heart.
Trixie
Some fish just wanna have fun. That’s “Trixie”, through and through.
"Trixie" is a name meaning "One who brings joy and happiness".
Ian
"Ian" is made entirely of hearts - for the love that surrounds him, God's love in him, and the ongoing gift of his transplanted heart. He is wide-eyed, looking to the future, smiling, and a little bit transparent and ethereal. The presence of heaven is in him, even as he continues to navigate life with a rare form of muscular dystrophy. The 5 dots on his side are for these 5 years since transplant. This fish was drawn during a concert he gave at that 5 year mark, to help celebrate the miracle of Ian's life, expressed through his words and music. He is the son of dear friends.
Shawdi
A life of joy has a lot more to do with determination and intention than endlessly happy circumstances. Joy is gritty. It is built out of layer upon layer of gratitude, like the colors you see here.
"Shawdi", a Persian name that means "one who feels deep joy".
Fairy Godmother
Auntie Pru was my fairy godmother when I was little. She’d disguise her voice by making it very high and we would have these magical little conversations on the phone. She sent me notes in the mail and I felt so special!
Auntie Pru sparkled, and was not the pastel fairy godmother type. She was boldly full of life, captured by these strong bright colors. I will miss her vivacious spirit.
Isra
Life can sometimes feel like a long journey at night - much is wrapped in mystery, the trees go on forever, and there may not be a clear path to follow. Maybe there are mountains ahead - and maybe not. Still we walk on, step by step, into the misty blue.
"Isra" is a name with Arabic origins, meaning "Journey of the Night".
Matilda
Yes, she's got some nicks in her fins and parts of her tail are missing. This is not about damage done. It's about tending it, healing it, learning from it, and not letting pain be the end of the story. Matilda is a survivor. She is stronger now, eyes forward, joyfully leaning into the next adventure. Nicks and all.
Her eyeball is sticking out because she is THAT excited about what's ahead!
"Matilda", Old Germanic origin, meaning "Mighty in Battle".
Neshama
To bless you with the deep strength and delight of soul joy, dancing with you in every circumstance - even the tough ones.
"Neshama" means "soul" or "spirit" in Hebrew.
Athelas
"While the others set the food ready, Aragorn bathed the hurts with water in which the Athelas was steeped. The pungent fragrance filled the dell and all those who stooped over the steaming water felt refreshed and strengthened. Soon Frodo felt the pain leave him, and his breath grew easy, though he was stiff and sore to the touch for many days."
Book One, Fellowship of the Ring
Athelas was a hard-to-find healing plant brought by Men of the West to Middle-earth. Aragorn had to do some serious hunting to find it.
A prayer fish for Roz, for healing.
Name Withheld
Abandoning the Afghans who have put their lives on the line for our country is a betrayal of trust. Surely the red tape can be unstuck, and the tiny bit of blue sky hope for escape can become a reality.
The texture of sand, the rising threat of certain death, the stuckness of the red tape, and the dwindling blue sky hope of escape combine in this fish.
Flawless Roz
She smiles at the future.
A visual prayer for one who is amazing and much beloved, to bless all that is lifegiving around and within her, especially her deep well of faith.
Hildegard
Viriditas (Latin): Green, growth + vigor, freshness, vitality. This was a guiding concept for Hildegard of Bingen, a Benedictine abbess, who connected this greenness to the vitality of spirit, mind and body - the greening power of God, and the creative power of life.
May you find life and aliveness - and the greenness of creativity - where you desire it most.
Ringo
6.17.21 With the arrests of 5 editors and executives of Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s free press became dangerously less so. “It is time for us to stand with our heads held high.” - Jimmy Lai
6.24.21 Apple Daily ceased publication.
“Ringo” means “apple” in Japanese. Palette is based on the Apple Daily logo.
Sophia
Everyone needs a high place to sit, settle in, and remember a bigger perspective on life.
Sophia means “wisdom”.
Qiáo
As I listened, I drew and bore visual witness to two thoughtful panel discussions about violence, lamenting, and healing as we build solidarity between Black and Asian communities.
Qiáo means “bridge” in Chinese.
Netsui
There are no small dreams. Even a minnow is full of life.
Netsui means “zeal” in Japanese.
Patrick
To bless the greenness of new life springing forth in you, opening the next chapter in your story.
Jothi
Enough with being invisible! Time to be seen.
Jothi means “A lamp that removes darkness, one who brings light”.
Adrsyanti
It is a strange experience to be rendered invisible, whether it happens slowly, instantly, or by a paradigm that’s been in place for generations. She has no mouth because when one is invisible, one has no voice.
Adrsyanti means “Invisible”.
Cleo
Life has challenge. Life has joy. We can hold both at the same time.
Ki
For a young friend who loves the San Jose Sharks, and who needed some post-injury rest.
Flo
Swimming in the flow with such enthusiasm, she has become the ocean.
Tara
She offered the gift of questions: What do I love? How can I give it more sustained attention in my life? As I practiced my answers by drawing this fish, Tara’s scales and side fins emerged as watercolor and pencil hearts. She swims in love.
Job
We can be shelter for each other in times of suffering. Reach out. You don't have to go it alone. That's only heroic in movies.
"Job" is wrapped in barbed wire because suffering sometimes feels like it is painful to move in any direction.
Wishing you wise, compassionate companions on your journey.
Jeannette
Sometimes the love of a certain color is clear from the beginning of life and never wavers. So it is with "Jeanette" and the color blue.
Here's wishing you the delight of a favorite color.
May
Her body bears the 3-finger salute used in the Myanmar protests (and by Myanmar’s Ambassador to the UN). Yellow is also the color of protest in Hong Kong. She is bright, for her courage and determination, even in the face of violence. May is named after a friend’s friend who lives in Myanmar.
Justine
She is made of lines because there are lines that get crossed when injustice occurs. The side fin is a heart shape because the work of justice takes deep passion to be sustainable. Her fins and tail are softer but not static, to communicate discerning, diplomatic movement forward. She isn’t smiling, this being serious work, and looks ahead with a watchful. open gaze.
Gene
Fred
Cindy
Sondra
Michelle
Marian
Liturgical Fish
These fish mark the rhythm of the different seasons in the liturgical year.
Advent
Ash Wednesday