"The scientific classification of Jellyfish:
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Subphylum: | Medusozoa |
'Jellyfish are displayed in many public aquaria. Often the tank's background is blue and the animals are illuminated by side light, increasing the contrast between the animal and the background. In natural conditions, many jellies are so transparent that they are nearly invisible.
'Jellyfish are not adapted to closed spaces. They depend on currents to transport them from place to place."
The transparent characteristic of the jellyfish is what caused us to name our theory after the Jellyfish.
That conversation with P-dawg, and many roommates and friends since, was about experiences in life that led us to discover that we possessed jellyfish characteristics. At times this was frustrating...at other times we used it very much to our advantage. Often, people make comments about how they feel they are invisible, but to be honest with ourselves and wanting to be as accurate as we could be about our very scientific theory, we had to admit that if people were trying to see us, they could...thus, we were not invisible, but more jellyfish-like; just a little transparent.
For some reason in the last year or so, I have been in numerous situations that have brought The Jellyfish Theory to the forefront of my mind again. From meeting people for a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time and having them believe each time that it was the first (and these are people I had danced with and had conversations about Nepal with), to watching people feel the stinging tentacles of me and a friend as they tried to sit in chairs we were already occupying, to not being seen amongst a group of ward members, to having somebody tell me they missed me at our last frisbee game (a game I was at and even played on that person's team).
These are just several of MANY experiences that have added supportive statistical data for my theory. My favorite discovery from studying a bit about jellyfish to write this post is that they are of a subphylum: Medusosoa (alluding to the tentacled head of Medusa in Greek mythology). This was a perfect finishing note on my Jellyfish theory because my Ecuadorian companion in the mission often referred to me as Medusa. :)
To all my jellyfish friends out there. I think you're AMAZING! You are definitely not invisible to me or the world!
So that my actual post wasn't really long, here is little more detail to the experiences I referred to:
ReplyDeleteCountry dancing with a friend from Peru: while standing off to the side, people not only stood in front of us (which is common at crowded dances), but they backed up into us and at one point, tried to sit on the chairs that we were already sitting on. They quickly felt the 'stinging tentacles' when they noticed it was not the chair they were sitting on.
Mid-single pot luck: Getting introduced to a guy who I had previously danced with on two or three different occasions. Every time I re-met him, he believed it was the first time we had met. After that meeting (I think it was our 4th), he seems to remember who I am.
Small group activity at Trafalga: It was a small group, but not everybody knew each other very well. Again, in introducing ourselves, one guy I had met the previous month and had talked about my recent Nepal humanitarian trip, did not recognize me at all and believed he was meeting me for the first time. I didn’t remind him that we had met before.
The middle-school performance of one of the Beehives in YW: After the play, I was with a fellow YW leader and another lady from the ward. Behind us were other members of the ward. As the star performer (the Beehive in our ward) came out, she immediately came up to us, passed me and hugged the other two women...only afterwards recognizing that she had gone right by me. Don't worry, I still got to hug the star:)
A dessert night get-together: a fellow frisbee player was standing next to me as we were eating cookies and told me they had missed me at Ultimate Frisbee the day before. I told him I was at frisbee the day before and I believe I had even played on his team.
Jellyfish? Or ninja? Sounds like you could be dangerous if you chose to channel your powers toward stealth & intrigue.
ReplyDeleteLike Trena said, you could channel your powers, and work as a spy or for the government to gather information about people and they wouldn't even know it. It could be useful. :) And just so you know you never were or never will be a jellyfish to me. You are amazing, one of the most amazing people I know.
ReplyDeleteI love your jellyfish theory. I have been on all ends of the theory. Right now I prefer to be the jellyfish.
ReplyDeleteOhhh, I like that... Ninja!!!
ReplyDeleteI feel like I've entered into that jellyfish mode, too. However, I've also been on the opposite end, meeting people several times and not even recognizing them. It's one of my worst qualities, because I know how important it is to be both recognized and remembered. One piece of advice my young women leader gave to me many, many years ago was to be "bold and brassy." I took those words to heart in college, and found a voice. However, I've fallen back into the shadows of obscurity. Maybe I need to start being bold and brassy again. Good luck!
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