When I was eighteen I got Malaria.
I was in Africa, in a country called Zaire, and somehow I ended up in a remote region, visiting the gorillas 🦍 in the mist.
Somehow I was profoundly hypnotized by these creatures. Such powerful physique. Such Royal primates. Such depth of animal aliveness.
Their presence forever made an impression upon me. Their presence simply enlightened me.
The animal world was alive and real to me.
But in the jungles of Zaire at that time there was a deadly virus killing all those who came in contact. Ebola was on the rampage. Ebola was weaving it trail of death. It was killing so fast that no one who got it really had the chance to spread it far before they ended up dead.
I did not catch Ebola. I simply caught malaria. Now the difference is vast. One is deadly and relatively untreatable. And the other can be treated and even prevented.
Now what we are dealing with today is very very mild. But the media is a very hostile aggressive machine. Beware to keep matters of life and death in a balanced perspective.
One false dose of panic and all may be lost.
It is said that the plague was on the way to one township to kill one thousand people. But when she was done, ten thousand were dead. And it is said, one thousand died of the plague, and the other nine thousand died of fear.
Om
Om
Om