The primary glaciological event referred to in this piece is that of the outflow from a fast moving mountain glacier into a stable ice shelf: the collision of the irrefutable force with the immovable object. The consequence is a zone of tortured shears, compressions, tensions, torsions and bending that leave the icescape above as an impassable chaos. It is not to be overlooked, however, that this conflict is a necessary one: it is the mechanism by which the shelf is replenished, to balance the loss from its seaward edge in the form of calved icebergs.

On a metaphorical level, it is hoped that the implications of painful but necessary infusion can be expanded to other levels, such as that of new ideas and behavior patterns. Any hope for the future, be it personal, cultural, or for humanity itself is dependent on acceptance and embrace of such discomfort. In such embrace there is not only pain, but much beauty as well. And so it is as well with the zone of sympiesis.