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The profound effect COVID-19 is having on our world cannot and should not be minimized, but amidst all the doom and gloom there’s certainly something to be said for being able to find a bright spot.

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I found a bright spot this week.

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Fishing is most definitely my favorite social activity. Fishing also happens to be my very favorite anti-social activity. The fulfillment I gain from sharing a fishing experience with others is a very different type of fulfillment than that which I get from fishing alone, but both are fulfilling to me nonetheless.

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It had been quite a while since I went fishing by myself, and as it turns out, I really missed it. There’s something about that clear-headed feeling that comes from hiking along the riverbank by myself. There’s something about the focus that comes to me from casting with no distractions. There’s something about the way I make strategic fishing choices in the absence of influence. And there’s something about the gratification I get from finding success as an angler when I’m all by myself.

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If you haven’t fished solo in a while, I’d highly recommend taking this unique opportunity to do so. Perhaps you’ll find the same level of satisfaction that I did. Perhaps you’ll experience the same clear-headed feeling that I did. Perhaps your focus will be as sharp as mine was. Perhaps you’ll find some success and that unmistakable feeling of gratification that I did.

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And most importantly, at a time in which our world seems to have a dark cloud over it, perhaps you’ll find a bright spot.

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