Fish and Ponds

Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond?

Is it better to be a valedictorian that goes to a small liberal arts college or one that goes to Yale?
Is it better for a youth soccer team to play in a local tournament and win or travel to Seattle and barely compete?
Is it better to be a small farm with a beautiful table at a local market or be one among hundreds of bigger farms with better tables at a market in the city?

These are real scenarios for me.
They are symbolic scenarios for you.

What if valedictorian is not even a category that fits? Because you were homeschooled, or traveled the world for a year while your peers went to geometry class, or started your own business at 16 and completed your studies online?

What if you started your own soccer club, launched your own league, or created your own tournament between here and Seattle?

What if you never go to market but sell your vegetables and eggs and cheese (and cooking tutorials!) through an online order service? And then delivered them to customers’ kitchens?

Everything about fish and ponds is changing.
How we measure the fish and the ponds.
The who and the how and the when of swimming in ponds.
Who maintains and gate-keeps the ponds.

We live in a time when new ponds are being dug everyday.

Go ahead, friends, start digging.