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Writer's pictureRichard Lipscombe

Great danger wrapped in beauty....


Newminimalists embrace beauty but protect against danger.


Danger can be beautiful

I was snorkelling off Heron Island of the Great Barrier Reef when a swam of jellyfish surrounded me. Immediately I felt the stings on my arms and legs. I swam to the shore and retreated from this immediate danger. I went straight to the diving shop and got an application which took much of the heat and pain out of the lumps. BUT. Over the coming days and weeks, the swelling set in and the pain increased. Once I got back at home I went to specialists to find out what I could do about my swelling limbs. It took four months for me to regain any semblance of normality.


Today, 11th July 2020, as I look out at the world around me I see a swarm of jellyfish [a mob]. Some of them are beautiful [see photo]: these are young, idealistic, humans who emit their sting through protests. As individuals they are more beautiful than dangerous; however, when they swarm in great numbers they are not as pretty as they are dangerous. I was warned not to go swimming off Heron the day when the jellyfish stung me; however, I could not see the swarms as I entered the water because they floated in on a rising tide. Suddenly, I was surrounded by imminent danger and all I could do was to absorb the stinging pain of that moment as I thrashed around and fought to get out of the water.


The jellyfish attack saw my arms and legs swell but I fully expected it to be just a flare-up of discomfort not a protracted event wrapped in pain. The truth is that it was the aftermath of the jellyfish attack that was most dangerous.


Richard.


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