...somebody famous (or not) once said that. Google is not quite sure who.

It's a true statement, though. Because in a conflict, nothing is ever what it seems. We do need to dig and investigate a bit, in order to find the truth. Few people take the time for it, though, and rather stick with their judgments.

When two parties are at war, both of them normally think they are defending themselves, because, "YOU STARTED IT!" - "NO! YOU STARTED IT!" Often, what neither one knows, is that it was actually an invisible third party, who threw the first stone, and now watches the two of them play it out - while reaping the benefits of course.

This article is Part II to this Part I.

Take news carefully - in small doses

So, I have been watching politics and the news from a distance for years.

I subscribe to The Skimm , which sends me the most important stuff I should be aware of (in an entertaining way), and I read the headlines of the newspapers every morning in my local cafe, just to be informed. But I don’t indulge in it, because newspaper articles are just opinions. Or opinion creators. And I would like to have as little outside influence on my opinion as possible.

And because I didn’t indulge in debating about news and politics, I instead indulged in peace-creating activities: first and foremost peace within myself (that's a life's work!), because - well, Be the message you want to see in the world.

Then peace within my clients as a coach, and then also contributing to my immediate community - where I could actually make a difference.

And I know just how many people in the world are doing the same in their very own way, which always gave me confidence that the good forces - the visionary, peace-loving, non-violent ones - are stronger than the others. Even if only by 1%. And I don't mean political parties by that. I mean non-visible forces. Consciousness, if you will, which is present in the good guys and the bad guys. I happen to believe that nobody is immune to an ever increasing consciousness.

This week my confidence was shaken, though.
I didn't realize how few people are immune to mass manipulation.
I didn't realize how present the fear still is.
And I didn't realize how I, myself, still belong to this “mass”.

Mass manipulation

This week a video clip came out of a former news anchor woman, who got fired about 10 years ago because she (allegedly) said a few things that were not quite in line with the political direction the news agency had received "from above”. She had used a few words or expressions that were just simple German words, but which had some “baggage” in a Don’t-mention-the-war! kind of way.

In this clip, she discloses what happened back then. She reveals how news agencies, tv and talks shows actually work. How they are there to "create" opinions amongst the population. None of those facts really surprised me, but the methods did. And how even famous and popular German celebrities are just sheep and cogs in the wheel.

I am disappointed in those sheep. I am disappointed that they don't speak up, and instead continue playing the game, deceiving us all. It shows their priorities. And fears.
Of not being popular anymore.
Of not getting hired anymore.

I am especially disappointed by the women celebrities who sidled up against her in a talk show, that was staged and designed to have her kicked out live on air. Women still are women's biggest enemy.

Some people are driven by fear, some by authenticity

Luckily there are people who won't compromise their authenticity, values and beliefs anymore. Because pretending to be someone else, and knowingly misleading the population creates an inner conflict for them, that they simply can’t bare anymore. Like this news anchor woman.

I applaud her. It's when we are beyond caring about the consequences (for ourselves), that we are truly free.

I am not that free yet. I noticed that, and maybe that was the worst realization of this week for me. I was so impressed by that woman and that clip, that I wanted to share it on Facebook.

But then I stopped. Because I realized that the "popular opinion" is: "We don't like her. She's too far right! If we are associated with her, we will be outcast, too!"

However it only became the popular opinion because it was designed that way: one incident, that was wrongly reported and blown up in the news, that is now engraved in the minds of the population. The truth was manipulated and it caused a scandal - a war - that this woman just couldn’t win back then. It was her against the audience/population, directed by an invisible puppet master behind the screen.

Do your own research

I wasn't in Germany when this incident happened, so I come to this “news” completely un-conditioned.

When I came across this clip, which has about 700,000 views so far, I wanted to find out what really went down back then. I started researching. I watched reports, analyses, and loads of interviews with her from back then and now, to make up my own mind about her.

Not once did she say the things she has been accused of. Everything had been taking out of context. All of her attempts to clarify and defend herself failed. Clearly a scapegoat was needed to set an example back then, and it happened to be her.

Until today, this follows her. In the public eye, she's a scorned woman. Because hardly anyone will go through the trouble of investigating, like I did. They are all (kept) busy with other things. It's so much more comfortable and energy-efficient to keep believing what you've always believed. Opening yourself up for a completely new point of view and - OMG! - possibly be proven wrong - takes a lot of effort and humility.

She herself, is very happy, however. This life changing event - even though surely unpleasant at the time, helped her to break free. I can relate very much to her, since I was fired from a job I loved, too, and it was all designed through intrigues that I couldn’t do anything about back then. And just like in her case, it actually turned out to be a gift in hindsight.

She found a new outlet to authentically report on what she believes in - and it doesn't matter if we agree with that or not - but she lives her truth.
She thinks for herself.
She's not manipulated by outside forces anymore.
Instead, she tries to give people a glimpse behind the veil. In a non-violent way.
Conveying, rather than convincing.

We don't need to agree with her. We don't need to follow her. We don't even need to like her.
We are free to think for ourselves and make up our own minds.

I'm looking forward to the day when I will be as free as her and successfully let go of those last little remainders of fear.