Covidiot vs Covidient: Giraffe Angel’s Most Challenging Mission!

Talk and Dialogue by Kendra Gettel – Querdenken Freiburg – 12.09.2020 Event at the Platz der alten Synagoge

Do you belong to that group of people who can’t understand how people can believe Corona isn’t dangerous and oppose the measures taken against it?  Do you get angry when you see others not sticking to the rules?

Or are you on the side of those who cannot understand how people can feel seriously threatened by Corona and be taken in by the need for the rules and regulations?  Do you think the whole situation is out if proportion with reality and feel angry that there appears to be no end to it all?

Whichever side you are on, you probably know that feeling of hopelessness of ever being heard and taken seriously by someone on “the other side”.  Meaningful discussion just seems impossible.

Well relax – you are not alone!  This is a subject that has got even the most practiced meditators taking way deeper breaths.

Let’s have a look at how one of these experts, the Giraffe Angel, recently approached the subject.  Perhaps his example can offer us some insights.  The Giraffe Angel specializes in Extreme Conflicts and is only sent to Earth from Giraffe Angel Heaven for cases where all other attempts to find a solution have failed.  

So, here on Earth, two normally good friends, Frida and Clara, have been having an argument.  Since Corona they have been struggling with very differing viewpoints.  They aren’t having an easy time of it together:

Frida: “What? You took part in that demonstration in Berlin on 1st August?  Are you out of your mind? That is so irresponsible!  You’re just spreading the infection at those stupid rallies, refusing to wear masks and socially distance – we’re going to have a second wave because of you.  Thanks a lot!  And that’s close enough – don’t you come any nearer to me!”

Clara: “Oh for goodness sake!  This stupid panic over Corona is so totally over-exaggerated!  The government is deliberately whipping up hysteria so they can strip us of our civil rights and set up a totalitarian state.  It’s so obvious!  You should be happy that there are people taking to the streets to defend our freedoms – your freedom too!”

Frida: “That’s utterly ridiculous!  As if the government would ever do anything like that! You stupid conspiracy theorists!  I would never have thought it of you, Clara. How can you…”

Frida breaks off abruptly, unable to go on on account of her mouth being wide open.  A bright light has suddenly appeared above them, floating down in their direction.  It is getting closer and closer and comes to rest at eye-level, at a distance of about 2 metres away from them.

The light starts to take form.  There before the two friends stands the figure of the all bountiful and ever patient Giraffe Angel, he who sees right into human hearts.

Giraffe Angel: “Hi you two!  Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you. I just want to help you find a way out of your argument.”

Clara: “Who are you???! Where did you come from?!”

Giraffe Angel: “I’m the Giraffe Angel.  I live in Giraffe Angel Heaven.  Hardly anyone knows me because I don’t come down to Earth very often – just in the case of conflicts that appear to be lost causes.  This whole Corona thing qualifies so that’s why I’ve been summoned.  Let’s get straight down to business.  

Frida, I’ve heard your worries about the demonstration on 1st August.  You’re afraid that these crowds all coming together could have dangerous consequences and the illness could spread further?”

Frida: “Well, isn’t that a no-brainer?”

Giraffe Angel: “You don’t want to catch the disease and you also want to protect those around you?”

Frida: “Of course.  I don’t need any of this crap!  I don’t want to end my life on a ventilator.  And I’d really like my parents to live a while longer!”

Giraffe Angel: “You’d never be able to forgive yourself if you put your parents in danger.”

Frida: “Absolutely.  I can’t imagine anything worse than being responsible for their deaths.”

Giraffe Angel: “Ever since March you’ve been trying so hard to stick to all the rules, in order to protect yourself and others.”

Frida: “Yes!  And it hasn’t been at all easy.  I so wanted to see my parents.  My children missed their grandparents too.  And their friends. And of course we would’ve liked to have done stuff and gone on holiday.  Even the outdoor pool is closed and that’s really hard in the summer.”

Giraffe Angel: “You accepted all of that.  Your desire to contribute and do your bit for the good of the community is really strong,  isn’t it? We Giraffe Angels love it when we meet people who are so committed to acting for the good of the whole.”

Frida sighs and looks noticeably more relaxed. “Thank you!  It does me good to be truly understood.  I just want to do the right thing!”

Giraffe Angel:“Yes, you want to do good!  May I ask you one more thing?”

Frida: “Yes.”

Giraffe Angel:  “It probably sounds just crazy to you when you hear Clara saying that the government is carrying out a campaign of fear so they can strip away our citizens’ rights, right?”

Frida: “Yes of course.  That’s just nonsense.”

Giraffe Angel: “You can’t imagine that could be possible and furthermore you can’t see any reason why they would want to do that.”

Clara: “But…”

Giraffe Angel (smiling beneficently): “Just a moment, Clara, I’m coming to you.  Give me a bit more time with Frida first.”

Frida: “Yes, it really does seem ridiculous to me. Would our government really lie to us so blatantly?  And the media as well?  That would be just, well – crazy.”

Giraffe Angel: “The idea would possibly be even more disturbing than that of a dangerous infectious disease going round.”

Frida: “Well, yes, it would a shock.  It would mean that everything we thought was true was actually a lie.  Like in “The Matrix” or “The Truman Show”.  Nope – that just can’t be possible.  If it really came out at some point that all this hadn’t actually been necessary and that the government had maybe known this – well then I’d be really super-angry.  At the government.  I don’t even want to think about it.”

Giraffe Angel: “I’d like to say something at this point.  Please don’t misunderstand me – I’m not making a judgement about who is right and who is wrong. That’s not why I’m here.  My job is to help clarify for both of you what you are experiencing on a deeper level, so you can find each other again and also a resolution to your conflict. That’s why I’m asking these questions, to create an opportunity for you to get to know yourselves more deeply and so that you can see each other as human beings, both with fears and anxieties as well as a desire to contribute to a better world. 

Here’s my next question to you Frida. Would the idea that we had gone along with all these measures for nothing, if people like Clara were right, be pretty hard to swallow? If it were all to have been in vain?”

Frida: “Yes, I can’t even imagine it. Our children have really suffered.  And we have too.  It’s only been possible to cope with because we have had a more important purpose in mind.”

Giraffe Angel: “Thank you for your openness, dear Frida, and your willingness to answer my questions.  I think we’ve had an excellent conversation! Now I’d like to direct a few questions at Clara.  Would that be okay or would you like to say anything more?”

Frida: “I feel much calmer.  Thanks – it’s okay now.”

Giraffe Angel: “Dear Clara, thank you for listening so patiently.  You’ve probably got a lot on your mind that you’d like to communicate.” 

Clara: “I should say so!”

Giraffe Angel: “I heard you say (I was listening even before you saw me) that it’s hard for you to understand how anyone can be so afraid of a virus like this. Is that right?”

Clara: “Yes!  There have always been viruses and disease.  It’s nothing new!  We don’t need a state of emergency because of it!”

Giraffe Angel:“You would like a more relaxed approach to the topic of disease generally?”

Clara: “Absolutely!”

Giraffe Angel: “And you can’t understand why this situation should be so different from and more dangerous than others in the past?”

Clara: “Well, of course not!!!  I’ve recently been reading from different sources and the figures vary to a certain extent, but I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that 80% or more of those infected don’t even notice that they are ill, and that the percentage of those who do  get really ill isn’t very high.  If so many people don’t even realize that they are ill, how can it be a dangerous disease?  I’d have thought you would recognize a dangerous disease from the fact that you feel really ill when you have it, and that most of those infected get seriously ill or even die.  This is quite obviously not the case at the moment.  Corona can have bad consequences for the so-called high-risk groups, but risk groups are by definition always going to face the risk that something that is harmless for most people could be dangerous for them.  So what’s the difference here? What’s all this mass tyranny about?”

Giraffe Angel: “You’re feeling bewildered?”

Clara: “Totally.  It looks to me like everyone has lost their minds.”

Giraffe Angel: “You’d like to be heard with your concerns and taken seriously?”

Clara: “Very much so!”

Giraffe Angel: “And you would like there to be a discussion as to whether these measures are in proportion to the situation or not?”

Clara: “Well, yes and no.  That would be good, but I’d rather it went much further than that:  Chancellor Merkel should appear before the press straightaway and announce that it’s now quite clear the measures are out of proportion to the danger and that they are all being repealed.  To me it’s so obvious this doesn’t require a discussion beforehand.  How much longer do they want to continue with this?  Until all our children are suffering psychological damage from it all, especially from the madness in our schools? Till the whole events industry, half the retail industry and countless other branches of the economy are bankrupt?”

Giraffe Angel:“You’re livid about it?  Feel free to express yourself – that’s what I’m here to support you to do.”

Frida: “Just a minute –  I need to say something now!”

Giraffe Angel: “Dear Frida, you are welcome to say something in a moment. For now I would like to give Clara the opportunity to finish sharing what’s in her heart. Carry on, Clara.”

Clara: “I’m so fed up.  It all stinks to high heaven! There’s this test, that only establishes gene sequences and even the manufacturer says it’s not to be used for diagnostic purposes.  Just let that sink in!  And this test is now being used for diagnosing!  And it shows positive when it encounters some kind of gene sequences which tell us nothing about whether the person tested was ill and is no longer contagious, or if they are or will be ill, or whether they are a danger for others or not. And this test is the basis for far-reaching political decisions that cause a huge amount of collateral damage.  On top of that the objectives seem to change all the time: the health system has to be protected,  the R number has to fall…  But it doesn’t matter anyway – the hospitals are standing half-empty and the R number is falling but we just carry on and the terrible consequences are being ignored.  And if you criticize what’s going on you are promptly labelled a conspiracy theorist.  Where on earth am I living?”

Giraffe Angel: “You’re feeling upset and shocked?”

Clara: “Yes, and angry.”

Giraffe Angel: “You’d really like the whole picture to be seen and not just the testing statistics?  Is that right?  On the one hand, with regard to Corona, whether positive tests actually have anything to say about disease or contagiousness. On the other hand, with regard to the overall situation, that we take in the totality of the consequences that result from the measures?”

Clara: “Absolutely!  And what really makes me furious is when they say it’s all about saving lives.  As if I want to endanger people’s lives!”

Giraffe Angel: “It hurts when you are accused of recklessly putting others in danger.”

Clara: “Yes, it hurts a lot.  Thank you!  You see, to me it seems the other way round.  So much suffering is resulting from the measures: the question is how many lives can perhaps be ‘saved’  through them but also how many people are losing their lives as a result?  There actually are calculations as to how many people have died because of the lockdowns throughout the world.  But these figures aren’t mentioned in the mainstream media. Livelihoods are being destroyed, people are living in permenant anxiety and insecurity, children can’t live carefree lives but are taught to be afraid of one another instead of playing together.  They have to wear masks in school even though masks can have many damaging effects if they are worn over long periods of time and even the WHO said they aren’t helpful. We are allowed to visit neither our elderly friends and relatives nor patients in hospitals.  There’s just so much…  Our quality of life is being thrown away and everyone is just looking the other way.  Life isn’t just about purely physical existence, vegetating away alone in some room.  It’s about all that which makes it makes it worth living.  Closeness, tenderness, community, celebration, music…”

Giraffe Angel: “From your point of view life is being destroyed by the measures, not being saved?”

Clara: “Yes.  Older people and people with pre-existing conditions will always be in danger of dying from bugs that are going around. We are all going to die, aren’t we?  The question is how do we want to live until then? Alone in a sterile room or rather with laughter, physical touch, closeness, community?  Quite honestly, I just don’t understand it all.”

Giraffe Angel: “It hurts when you see all the things that are being sacrificed, and you can’t see any reason for it all?”

Clara: “Exactly.  I can’t see any reason for it.  It seems as though we are all killing ourselves as a precaution against dying.  I could cry.”

Giraffe Angel: “You could cry.  You feel desperate.”

Clara: “Yes.”

Giraffe Angel: “Thank you Clara, too, for your openness and willingness to answer my questions.” 

Clara: “Giraffe Angel, I’d like to say one more thing.”

Giraffe Angel: “Fire away.”

Clara: “You know, I can’t tell anyone how to live their life.  If they feel safer by not meeting other people and by wearing a mask then they can do this. But I also want to decide for myself how I live my life.  I don’t want to be protected from myself.  I want to decide for myself which risks I take and which I don’t.”

Giraffe Angel: “You want to be able to take your own decisions about your own life and to be involved in decisions that affect it so deeply?”

Clara: “YES!!!!”

Frida: “But that’s not possible in this situation, where you endanger others through your behaviour!!!”

Clara: “Oh for goodness sake, I can’t cope with this anymore – here we go again!  Didn’t you hear what I just said?  This Corona panic is completely OVER THE TOP!!”

Giraffe Angel: “Stop, stop you two!  

Frida, you see a limit to an individual’s self-determination when they are putting someone else in danger?”

Frida: “Yes, of course.  Don’t we put criminals in prison so that others are protected from them?”

Clara: “But it’s all about proportionality!!!  All these measures are causing so much damage in the attempt to prevent a relatively small danger.   You’re more likely to die in a car crash and we don’t stop driving, do we?  You’re acting as though every person who isn’t wearing a mask is a walking death-trap!  It’s just ridiculous!”

Giraffe Angel: “Dear Clara, I hear that you want to weigh up the dangers and you’d also like to help those who are suffering from the measures?”

Clara: “Yes, of course. What’s going on is unbelievable.  So much suffering…”

Giraffe Angel: “You’d like to do something for all those who are having such a difficult time at the moment?”

Clara: “Yes!”

Giraffe Angel: “I can also see you are putting your heart into this and are really committed to making the world a better place. Is that right?”

Clara: “That’s right.  I can’t stand it much longer – especially what’s going on for children and schools.”

Giraffe Angel: “So, you two, I can see this subject is huge and has so many facets to it.  It might be a good idea if we met more often to talk about it.  For today we’ve already heard a lot from one another.  I’d like to suggest two things in order to wind up our conversation for now.  First, could each of you sum up in two or three sentences what you most want to communicate to the other, and the other repeat what they’ve heard in their own words?  Okay?”

Frida: “All right.”

Clara: “Let’s give it a go.”

Giraffe Angel: “You start, Frida.  What is it you most want Clara to hear from you.  In two or three sentences, please.”

Frida: “I feel anxious when people don’t socially distance and don’t wear masks. I don’t want us to get ill and certainly don’t want us to die. I want to protect the people around me, especially my children and my parents.”

Giraffe Angel: “Clara, can you repeat this in your own words?”

Clara: “You are afraid.  You want to do everything you can to stay healthy and not infect anyone else, particularly your children and your parents.  Above all, you don’t want anyone to die.”

Giraffe Angel: “Frida, do you feel heard?”

Frida: “Yes, that covers what I said pretty well.”

Giraffe Angel: “Clara, how do you feel, when you hear Frida say that?”

Clara: “Well, I still can’t understand WHY you are so afraid. At the same time I do hear that you are really worried.  And no-one wants that.  I don’t want you to be afraid.  I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to put you in any danger. I also don’t want anyone to get ill. I think we are only disagreeing on how we achieve this goal.”

Giraffe Angel: “Thank you Clara!  And what do you most want Frida to hear from you?”

Clara: “I want consideration for the fact that closeness is a basic human need, that we can’t live without in the long term. I want this and other basic needs like freedom, (the right to) security, self-determination and community to be given the weight they deserve and to be treated as as valid as the right to physical existence in the adjudication of whatever measures are being proposed.”

Frida: “You would like us not just to look at our physical existence but all human needs.  You’d like to find solutions that include these needs and that don’t focus on just one of them to the exclusion of all others.”

Giraffe Angel: “Thank you Frida.  Clara, do you feel you’ve been heard?”

Clara: “Yes.  I notice there’s more in me that wants to be heard, but that’s an important part of it and it feels good. Thanks!”

Frida: “Before, you said something more – that you don’t see Corona as dangerous enough to justify all the measures for which so many other human needs are being sacrificed.”

Clara: “Yes, thank you.  That’s right.  Thanks so much for listening.”

Giraffe Angel: “I’m so glad you’ve both achieved some success in listening to each other.  Now I’d love to know if, through your exchange, anything has changed in your respective perspectives?”

Clara: “Well, when I come to think of it…  I didn’t realize before that you actually want the same thing as me, and that’s that we will all be okay.  You don’t want anyone to get ill.  That’s something I can really understand. “

Frida: “Thanks!  It’s good to hear that.  For my part I’m starting to reflect a bit more.  I hadn’t really thought about all the consequences of the corona measures and what they can mean for particular individuals.  And there I can understand you and agree it’s unacceptable.  No-one should have their livelihood threatened and no-one should have to suffer emotionally or psychologically.  Children should be able to grow up unburdened.  Perhaps it really would be a good idea to have another look at the balance between the danger of this disease and the regulations that are trying to prevent it spreading.  I think I’m now a bit more open to talking to you about it all.”

Clara: “Thank you!  That’s so great!  Thanks so much! The idea that we can reflect together about how to approach all this and maybe do things a bit differently feels really good, and totally different from arguing about it.  Thank you!”

A tear rolls down the Giraffe Angels cheek.  “Thank you, both of you.  It touches my heart when I see that understanding between people is possible after all.  Thank you for your openess.

I want to repeat that I’m not here to decide who is right and who is wrong, to act as judge and decide what should happen.  That’s not necessary, because your hearts are big enough, you have enough compassion for others, enough intelligence and creativity to find excellent solutions by yourselves. We Giraffe Angels can see into your hearts and we know that if you – and by “you” I mean all human beings – can let go of your insistence on being right, and instead look at what you have in common, your higher motives,  then a world of possibilities opens up wide for you.  Then you can become unstoppable!

Maybe just a tip to give you some direction.  Don’t let fear dictate your decisions.  Fear is a bad counsellor; in fact it is a catastrophic counsellor!  Sense what your heart is saying to you, and when you can hear it, follow this impulse.

You can do this – I know you can.  

I have really enjoyed meeting you.  If you want to talk again in the future you can call me: it’s enough to do this in your mind’s eye.  Think of me and ask me to come, and I’ll be right there.  

For now, take care and farewell!”

In the blink of an eye the Giraffe Angel disappears to become just a light again, floating upwards and away.

Frida and Clara smile at each other.  That was quite an experience!  And they have learned a lot.  

Clara: “I’d really like to continue discussing this subject with you.  How about you?”

Frida: “Yes.  Maybe we can learn from the Giraffe Angel and continue talking in this more constructive way.  Shall we meet again tomorrow?”

Clara: “I’d love to!”

And you?  Maybe you’d also like to apply something from the Giraffe Angel’s method the next time you are confronted by someone from “the other side”?  In any case, the Giraffe Angel has no copyright on his strategy, and up there in his Heaven feels pure joy when he sees and hears any of us contributing to peace on earth.  

Here’s to our common future!  

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Many heartful thanks to Helen Hughes for the translation!

Image of Giraffe Angel by Cynthia Maletzki/ Image 2 by Pixabay