The power of Corona

Lavinia, Saturday 14 March 2020, 2:30 a.m.

Humo :

It’s got a hold on me, too. Weather you like it or not, you get sucked into the mass hysteria created around Corona. I thought it was a little exaggerated. A media that makes people crazy and anxious. Is it justified? I don’t know. Who am I anyway? But the fact that great political leaders and their scientists sit together for hours and make drastic decisions, makes me think it’s serious. In my mind, it’s still not as bad as an ordinary flu. If you know that millions of people are already vaccinated against the flu every year and still between 5% and 10% are infected by the influenza virus every year. And that every year between 250,000 and 500,000 people die as a result of the flu…

At the time of my writing, according to the latest data from ‘De Morgen’ (Belgian Newspaper), 5429 people worldwide have died… Only weakened and older people. Already more people have been cured than are still sick. (*Source : De Morgen)

Is this an exaggerated fuss, a creation of mass hysteria that unnecessarily causes worldwide panic? All right, I understand that measures need to be taken so that hospitals can cope with the situation and no choices need to be made about who can be helped and who cannot. Wouldn’t it be easier to lock down the affected countries for 14 days until the virus goes out on its own? Instead of measures that seem ridiculous? Meetings of more than 1,000 people were not allowed to go ahead, but meetings of 999 were? For example, footballers were no longer allowed to shake hands at the start of the match, but lie rolling over on the pitch 10 minutes later in the fight for a ball? I might pull it into the ridiculous, but that’s how it gets to me. I can’t help it, they seem measures that aren’t really measures. I heard on the phone with friends that in Belgium at the moment all the stores except the food stores and pharmacies are closing, only on weekends???????? Is the virus not active on weekdays?

I’m on it. My brain can’t process it properly. It doesn’t fit my mind, it makes me shudder at the idea that we’re locked up. And yes, it does. I feel dragged into the stream of panic worldwide. Yesterday evening I had an ’emergency meeting’ with Wim about how we are going to deal with this if it turns out that people don’t get out of here because of no air traffic. I feel an enormous urge to start hoarding, because you don’t want to leave your guests without food or drinks, do you? Soon we will discuss with every guest – we have full house at this moment – how they see it, and how we can make sure in case of an emergency that they can stay here in the best possible condition.

I fought hard against it, did my best to ignore this fact, but this is no longer about us, it’s not only about ourselves, it’s about our guests and their family and friends, it’s about the weak and elderly in our society. Does Covid-19 give the world an important wake-up call that it is time for more balance in the world? That today’s society can’t continue as we are today? That the overpopulation is no longer tenable for the continued existence of Mother Earth? Wondering if the many lock downs will have an impact on pollution…

I know this writing can sound very controversial to many people. I don’t want to write a pamphlet, or a message for ‘humanity’. People who have been following my blog for a long time, know that I’m just trying to express my thoughts. Often because otherwise they just keep haunting my head. In any case, this writing is meant as therapeutic for myself, I have to put it down on paper, because it oppresses me too much. Tonight I can’t sleep at all, just because of that. Not because I could get sick, because to be honest, I haven’t thought about it for a moment. It’s like being sick itself just isn’t an issue here. Or am I just reading and hearing numbers and statistics, and not looking thoroughly enough at what it really is?

Anyway, I haven’t really followed it up from the beginning. It was only from the moment guests arrived and didn’t want to shake hands for fear of ‘The Corona’ that I started to realize that this could also have consequences for us. Because now more and more people don’t shake hands, don’t give kisses anymore, it strikes me. Especially here in Spain, where they actually deal with each other in a very physical way. And I’ve become very used to that, more even, it’s a very unnatural way of dealing with people at the moment. I feel a strong urge to put my hand on them in a friendly way, to give a greeting kiss. I feel very uncomfortable and strange to greet people from a distance. People I always kiss when they come, like Marta our cleaning helper, and our gardeners. This doesn’t feel good for me. I notice that when talking to people, the personal circle around them is much larger than normal. That contacts are therefore less jovial, less friendly. It feels like I’m talking to strangers, people I have no connection with. And in our concept this is extremely uncomfortable. It’s all about the familiarity, about creating a friendly and jovial atmosphere. Fortunately, some people still manage to do that, but I’m afraid that everyone will have to cooperate. That common sense will have to take over from feeling. Problem is that I don’t function in a normal way if I can’t let my feelings guide how I behave. I fear that I will seem very ‘unreal’ to people, just because I am not allowed to be myself. This can be a selfish thought. And maybe it is, in times of crisis. But can I have a moment? Can I live and experience my selfish thoughts? I’m living in incredible duality right now and it doesn’t feel good. But as usual, we always make the best of the situation we’re in. Even now. My motto remains ‘all disadvantage has its advantage’, even now. Although at this moment I can’t figure out which one…

To be prosecuted…

Hasta Luego,

Annemie or Ana

Maybe you like to read “The escape from Egypt” as well?