It’s rare to find a metaphor of emotion so apt as the phrase fish out of water. Upon hearing these words, one immediately understands. It is the feeling of being a misfit, living in a setting that is poorly suited to one’s needs.
There’s nothing wrong with a fish out of water, except that it’s not in the kind of place where it can thrive. A fish is great at making a life for itself, so long as it’s not on dry land. To feel like a fish out of water is to sense that if only one had been born in a different place or time, life would make sense, and one’s best qualities would be apparent to everyone.
There’s a second side to feeling like a fish out water, however. Sometimes, people who are in an environment to which they seem perfectly suited have trouble seeing beyond the obvious aspects of the world around them. A fish out of water may struggle to adapt, but such a person also is able to perceive new possibilities in things that others accept as commonplace.
