“Armadillos are independent creatures, roaming around looking at the world, exploring and enjoying themselves. They have almost no predators, and when they are threatened, they just roll into a ball till the threat passes. They know they are protected from tooth and nail by their own armor so they have little worry. When the danger is past, they unroll and go on about their business — again with little concern or worry”
This is an extract from one of Margalist Fjelstad’s books (see appropriate section on this site), and repeated at the start of one of the exercices sections in the little ‘therapy’ workbook I used at the start of this year (2023) to put a final(-ish) nail in the coffin of 2013-2021. Her point is that caretakers should become/behave like armadilloes, as they have all the tools and inner qualities.
As you may have noticed, this very website has the armadillo as an ’emblem’ on the main page, and this where it comes from. Now, anthropomorphism has its limits, but this little analogy led me to a few reflections. One that stemmed from my own perception of a real-life situation, and then a few side-thoughts it led to. I have to insist on ‘perception’ in this one, as I haven’t had the chance to match it with reality. I nearly wrote part of what I will write now (though it’s unformed yet, as usual) to someone, but I figured I didn’t have enough elements to be certain that it applied. I do have a good intuition often, but in this case, I felt I was in the dark, and I remembered that sometimes, not that rarely, I tend to extrapolate on not enough information and be so completely wrong that if I articulated those thoughts and ideas, I’d be looked at as being on a different planet from reality. So I kept my counsel and stayed wise and schtum. In some ways I regret, but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have made a difference, like everything I tried. But now I fell I can put that here, as it is just a very theoretical situation, not one that has to match with a reality I actually lived. So in a way, it is more like a mini-essay/perspective.
Anyway, let’s try and put this into words and sound not too confusing in the process. One of starting points was about the bit about ‘when they are threatened’; again perception (and not just mine here) is the key. Armadilloes don’t necessarily behave like that only when they ARE threatened, but very likely when they FEEL threatened (I don’t know the animal world well enough, but for that I have to use anthropomorphism again, though I believe the reality is that this animal can also feel something, that is not necessarily matching reality).
So here we are: what if the perceived threat is not only not a real threat, but never goes away? If the armadillo rolls into a ball and wait until that ‘threat’ passes, then they might condemn themselves to a lifetime’s wait and never actually continue enjoying life of exploring the world. That’s not too good, is it? So how long does the armadillo wait until they can ascertain that that ‘thing’ is not a threat?’. Of course, in my world of infinite possibilities, an actual threat could also remain inert and dormant for however long and STILL be a threat. But at some point, the armadillo has to act or react. In their nature, they maybe can’t attack. Can they prod gently? Or does that feel too risky? Or do they simply move away (think physically here, but could also be mental in the human and especially internet-led world)? Would the ‘perceived’ threat then follow? There’s a chance that if they are sentient and not a threat they won’t. They might themselves feel a bit sad that the armadillo moves away because they do like the armadillo and think armadilloes are nice and remind them of themselves in some ways. Then they could follow, mechanically or without thinking, and still not be a threat. Or they could wisely let go, just with regret that the armdillo never gently moved towards them and tried to uncover them (side scenario/question: how did that perceived threat come about? Did the armadillo make the first step as part of their world exploration but were faced with a reaction they were unable to identify and translated as ‘threat’?). Nobody’s right, nobody’s wrong, the armadillo will be safe, but something great that could have happened does not happen. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s not, at this moment, the ideal or perfect scenario. Of course, a threat could also follow, a threat could also not follow and look for another ‘target’. But my point is (and that’s the other wider point from the title, the one I was led to from this starting analogy): what if in fact, the ‘perceived threat’ was simply another armadillo. One with a different history, who also learnt to protect themselves by staying away, who knows or wants to enjoy and explore the world, but figures they’ve gone some way that means they might enjoy and explore better with a fellow armadillo? But then, we come to anthropomorphism again, armadilloes with different personalities, at different stages of their developments, even with a lot of fundamental identical characteristics and aspirations: they may never meet and talk and discover the world together. And so, how do armadilloes meet? How do they recognise each other among the other creatures of this world?
I don’t know, I don’t have the answer, I may not be the wisest armadillo, though I like to think I’m better at being an armadillo, than I was only three years ago. (And yes, ignoring the ‘real threat’ bits that I constructed from logic and knowledge, the rest of it whas what I wondered about the situation :-p).