Fear

Everyone is afraid. From the teenage boys who hide under identical over-sized gray sweaters and hoods like escape convicts, to teenage girls who hide in carefully dressed packs, to the aged hiding in their traditional views and ways of dress, to the elderly afraid to leave their front doors at all. Most people show fear in various personal ways, but I always see it in their eyes, in their body language. So the question presents itself … what do people fear?

I remember a day, years ago now, when I waited in the back seat of my parents’ car while mom did some extra shopping in the mall of the town where I am currently renting. I was bored, but thoughtful like always, and with innocent curiosity looked about me. To my surprise every person, man or woman, who got out of their cars exhibited a bold look of fear in their eyes. Each left the security of his or her car, and stood in a parking lot where they had no doubt stood many times before, with wide eyes of fear, and looked about them slightly, and walked with that open aura which only comes from fear (not to be mistaken with the open manner of fearlessness; the difference is extremely hard to explain, so perhaps I’d best let it drop.) They’d walk into the mall almost like it was a mouth about to gobble them whole. I was quite fascinated with this puzzle, and figured that the only cause for their fear could be the location itself; the large parking pot (well, large for around here), and the mall. (The fear was of course my own interpretation of what was around me at the time.)

Only one man showed no fear. He pulled up in an old beat-up Ford truck, a bunch of junk in his pick-up (no doubt it wasn’t junk to him.) He had a cane and had trouble walking around (and this usually causes people to become self-conscious, but this fellow obviously did not consider himself a handicap.) He did not walk around like many guys do out here in the country; with raised shoulders and lots of snorting and banging things loudly, looking for someone so they had a reason to speak loudly. No, this fellow simply walked from his truck, got something out of the back (some sort of gadget, didn’t know what it was and I can’t remember its description), and walked to the mall with some difficulty (as you might imagine.) But there was no trace of fear in this man. He was like a duck in a lake, a frog in a pond, or an eagle in the air. He was in his element, and was so wherever he went. I couldn’t help but think that he had some sort of Zen about him, even if he didn’t realize it himself.

(The above is an account I had had, and I don't normally see everyone wide-eyed with fear all the time. Although in the city people are more lost and you will see less emotion in them all around.)

This instance struck me and ever since I’ve been much more observant about how afraid people are, and how few people are truly unafraid. What causes fear, I am beginning to think, is a reluctance to accept one’s environment, for whatever reason. If that were the case, not accepting the big, cold look of a flat paved parking lot and the big square design of a business ready to gobble you up might cause you to feel ‘out of your element’, and thus afraid (like finding yourself in the woods at night, and realizing all the dangers -- the points that could blind you, the predators that are prowling and can see, etc.) Perhaps then that’s all it is, and there is nothing deeper or more complex behind it.

But thinkers love to think, and I find myself wondering if there is, perhaps just excited by the concept of digging up some great insight on the human race (they say curiosity killed the cat, but cats are forever curious, for it is in their nature, and the mystery never ends.) Perhaps fear comes from a much deeper place, perhaps some part of us that knows instinctively that what we’re doing is wrong; forcing ourselves to do things, or do things in ways, that are unnatural, as well as knowing there should be grass where there is pavement, a friendly cultural gathering place where there is a big cold corporation sat before them like a waiting predator, that inside there should be natural food products and care-developed household items to be cherished, instead of fast-food and cheap pots and pans with dangerous chemicals on them. I think it is this deep knowing that causes the rejection, or, or perhaps thus, the fear.

Yet for something so wide-spread, so everyday, it is all but buried in the sand. You never hear people talking about how afraid they are, or even about how afraid other people are. If a school shooting or gang rape occurs, people use the usual list of words such as rage, hatred and evil. But I never hear the word fear used, except as a marketing tool to pitch the story -- oh how afraid the students were that they’d be shot, or how afraid the women on this street are of being raped! But fear is never talked about as a driving factor for extreme actions, and it is never talked about as normal feeling that nearly everyone shares. While I’ve been writing this I’ve heard the insane panic of sirens ripping through the neighborhood. Memories of this morning float through my mind; where police cars were sitting outside the parking lot, a person in the back of each as their accounts were written down, after a man had verbally attacked a worker and she had responded in physical violence, from what I heard. I’m sure they were each using words like ‘anger’ and ‘aggravation’ to describe the emotions involved, perhaps even ‘threatened’, but I doubt ‘fear’ was one of them.

The thing is, as strange as this may sound, and as glorious for an article on the subject as it may be, people are afraid of admitting they are afraid. Needless to say high school is insane, and whatever the reason for all the fear in the first place the fear-driven, institutional environment would frighten most anyone who was a social equal inside it. For the elderly, they are old and have many weaknesses, and the outside world does present many dangers and difficulties for them. But for young healthy adults, full of ambition and determination, to have such fear inside them … that I can’t escape. Something is wrong.

So what is the source of all this fear? Of course television shows and popular authors such as Stephen King make a lot of money from frightening people, not to mention theme parks and heavy metal bands. But how could they be solely to blame? If there was no fear to begin with, they simply couldn’t have built careers off it. No, this is something internal, not external -- although I feel the external world may be the cause, or at least the trigger. Spiritual wisdom suggests that fear is a natural happening; something which just springs up from an awareness of weakness (like of the woods at night.) If that is true, then there is an actual threat to us in our environment which causes us to be afraid of it. And since people are always clinging to everything -- socialism and occultism, game and media obsession, clubs and parties, chemicals and music infatuation, loveless committed relationships -- this leads me to believe that the danger society imposes is an ability to suck away people from themselves.

Seems right. How could a bird feel right without air, or a fish without water, or a polar bear without -- well you get the idea. If we stray from natural human culture, which is built from love and spiritual connection, and walk into a fabricated structure, such as an institute or shopping mall, then we have strayed from our element and have become lost. But just as a bird can wait out a storm, and a fish can find another channel of water from which to swim, there are those who carry a space of truth around them like a shield and never let their environment take them, and find new ways of spreading sanity around them, or new ways of finding it. Perhaps that is the role of the artist or storyteller in modern society; to spread sanity -- human truth -- through the walls of the corporate and institutional plane we call the modern world.

And of course, institutes have the duty to conform people into mindless functioning members of the corporate society. And business, especially the big corporations, don’t give a damn about people, the natural world, or the future of both -- they only give a damn about profit. We have betrayed the natural world -- Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden of Eden -- and have manufactured our own world of system and steel. We have raped the world of the majority of her natural resources, have grossly overpopulated her, and continue, as if with knowing pride, to do so to the very edge of oblivion (make no mistake, however you look at it, this mess we’ve gotten ourselves into is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.) We are living unnaturally, and it springs out at us everyday -- from all the BS of marketing, to the cold structures of business, to the soulless ravaging by industry.

So, is it any wonder that we’re afraid? Is it any wonder why physical and physiological reminders of our enforced system cause us to feel out of our element?

The solution? That would be a separate topic. But on the issue of fear, I’m afraid I haven’t an easy one. The only one I’ll give in this thread is a piece of wisdom we’ve all heard since before kindergarten: we should face our fears (whoever said curiosity killed the cat, had something to hide.)

Any thoughts? But then feelings might be more useful.

What causes fear, I am beginning to think, is a reluctance to accept one’s environment...

I think what causes fear is the inability or resistance to adapt. Call me an Evolutionist if you must, but as our environment changes, so too must we to survive. The problem is our environment is changing way too fast for our natural adaptation processes to keep up with, and also at the same time, our environment is becoming further apart from our natural spiritual existence. People are getting caught in the chasm - indecisive, struggling, not understanding...they do the best they can with what they have, and what we have when we don't feel safe or aligned with a situation, is fear. Add to that this wonderful little human folly called an ego, and you are looking at a very effective, if not seemingly inescapable trap.

You are on the right track with facing our fears, Blue. But how does one 'face' a fear? Do you confront the situation (which might cause fear in another)? Do you immerse yourself in the fearful situation until you are desensitised? Do you find another way to avoid the fear?

My theory on facing fears is to learn from or transform the fear. Most fear simply springs from not understanding something, or lack of knowledge. We fear the unknown. Okay, having said that - we know what the dentist is about but alot of people still fear him! So when there is risk involved with fear, we need to take a look at the bigger picture or consequences. Going to the dentist might hurt physically, but anyone who has ever had an abcess can tell you that dentist pain is worth it in the short term for longterm relief!

Then there is the fear we carry inside because we simply don't know ourselves. Our inner world creates our outer world. Get in touch with who you are - be the change you want to see in the world. Align your thoughts, feelings, and energy with positivity and love. Trust yourself and you will develop faith. Like attracts like. Dispel fear - do not put it out there from your being or it will come back to you magnified.

Shift the focus - don't watch fearful things that breed those thoughts in your mind. Do not concentrate your energy on 'fighting', concentrate it on 'spreading joy' or 'bringing peace'. Change the tapes in your mind from negative to positive. Think about what you can do, not what you can't.

If you can't change the fearful situation, change how you respond through your experience of the situation. We all encounter dangers and disasters in our lives, but what makes them so is our response. See each experience as an opportunity to grow and learn. Turn a negative into a positive. Sometimes these things happen to open doors for you that would have otherwise stayed closed. I believe everything happens for a reason - and there are only good reasons!! Use fearful situations as a tool for change - you will be the winner every time

Wow, words of wisdom!

I've been thinking also that if we find what we are afraid of then that fear should subside. But finding the roots of our fears can so difficult.

I think that is a bit of a chicken or egg situation Blue. Finding out what we fear won't necessarily make us fear it less, it will just give us awareness of the thing that produces the feelings. You can however manage the symptoms of the fear. Say you are afraid of snakes. You don't walk around all day everyday totally freaked out because you fear snakes do you? However if one crossed your path, you might have a reaction! But if you live in a big city, how likely is that to happen? Alot of fear, is simply fear for fear's sake. Fearing something that 'might' happen (but hasn't yet). In reality, we are fearing a non-event or nothing - only an idea in our head. And who had that idea in the first place? Oh, that would be us! So who has the power to alleviate the fear by removing the offending idea in the first place? *pick me, pick me - I know the answer* OURSELVES!! It all comes down to thoughts and how we choose to think them. This applies to external sources of thoughts too. We are warned about terrorist attacks and the dangers of our world all the time - we hold memories of the devastation of 911, so it is only natural to be scared right? I mean it could happen anytime, anywhere, and to anyone? Yup, it could. But so could a millionother random unrelated things. A smoker could develop lung cancer and die at anytime with no knowledge of it. A bus could hit you crossing the road. Someone could smash their car into the front wall of the restaurant you are eating at and mame or killyou or a loved one. The choice is yours - buy into fearful thinking and let it limit your experience of life, or choose to create safety for yourself. You can't affect any of those fearful situations - but you can affect yourself.

I remember a great line from an Australian movie called 'Strictly Ballroom' about a dancer who is told he cannot dance a certain style because it is not regualtion, even though it makes him feel alive when he dances it. The line is 'A life lived in fear, is a life half-lived'. Change your thoughts, and live a full life. Without negative thoughts supporting it, fear becomes redundant.

I remember also a line from the novel "Dune" by Brian Herbert: "Fear is the soul killer." One of my favourite quotes.

Yet there are those who argue that being afraid is part of what makes us human and that it is something worth exploring. I get what you mean about not focussing on what makes us afraid; if I am afraid of bears then focussing on bears every day might only serve to enhance that fear, or even worse, might further align my psyche to be used to being within the state of fear. However, what if the thing that you believe to be the root of your fear really isn't? I have been thinking lately about the evil Reptilians and their Greys (who abduct and perform inhuman experiments upon us on a regular basis.) Some abductees claim that much of the population have been or are being abducting but simply don't remember it. The fear of serpents could stem from a fear of Reptilians, and the fear of insects could stem from a fear of the insect-like Greys -- hell, even the fear of heights (which I have) could stem from being pulled helplessly up into the air (and into a UFO.) Aren't these three phobias the three most common? They might not be but I hear of them the most frequently.

I'm not disagreeing with you that focussing on our fears can be a major mistake (hell, some abductees who recall their experiences go insane because of it.) But, by searching some -- if we can muster the strength -- we can perhaps find some truths which can give us light. If, say, you had a fear of insects and discovered this was because you were abducted by Greys, not only might this help you get over being afraid of insects (although this fear would be shifted to the Greys, and granted it would likely be enhanced now), but also you would understand the root. If we all realized that we were being abducted by Greys (not saying that we are), then (in theory) we could all band together and encourage strength in each other and start searching for answers. More would join our cause and we could begin demanding answers. As we got them, we could begin truly fighting to put a stop to this.

Maybe I went off subject here a bit, but I am seriously wondering lately if abductions by Greys and unconscious manipulation by Reptilians are responsible for 'unexplained' phobias. For example, one morning years ago I 'awoke' to find myself in a mindless trance-like state. I realized that I was being held in a sort of metaphysical board or metallic-like platform. I of course considered it was a dream, but my natural instincts told me this wasn't right. My metaphysical body was lying still and helpless, as if restrained by cords or vices of energy somehow. There were little beings over me, which I could feel more than see (visually it was all extremely blurry, to the point where even colours were difficult to discern.) I am uncertain if I could hear much of anything either. But I felt a dozen or so of them around me, and I think more of them further back. They were small, 3 or 4 feet if I had to guess. Somehow I knew they had slender limbs, not sure how I knew this. They were all around me, doing things to me with their hands (I don't know if they were using tools or not.) I could have obeyed but I decided to freak, so I did. I began kicking in rebellion. The creatures went ballistic, struggling with me and maybe even attacking me. I didn't understand if this would harm my metaphysical 'body' or not so my anxiety and rebelling increased, and I felt that my kicks were hurting several of them. I broke my way from the restraints. After I did this, I was able to shake myself awake (in my real, physical bed (where I was, half, standing at this point.)

So, I agree that we cannot focus on fear, but at the same time we can learn things from what causes us to become fearful.