What is Fear?
Have you ever asked yourself what fear is exactly? Tonight, a wonderful person wrote on Facebook that “Fear is cancer of the mind”. Got me thinking!
I believe that fear is not something that exists. It’s only the absence of something that exists: love. Every time I experience fear, when I look deep inside, I can spot some lack of love somewhere. We get these anxious feelings and suffer when we are being disconnected from love. We call this state fear, but actually there is nothing to give a name to.
Fear is an impostor. Have you ever heard of these defenseless, harmless animals in the jungle who are able to mimic other, dangerous or poisonous species to impress their predators and avoid getting eaten? That’s how I see fear too. It shows up wearing its disguise, like “Ho-ho-ho, I am the big bad wolf!!” and wants you to be scared. But the thing is, when you pull its beard instead of running away, it bursts like a bubble and dissolves! Poof!
Fear is an illusion. For a long time, I thought if I didn’t listen to my fear, it would become reality. It was something like a superstition: “Oh my God, if I don’t take it seriously, it will happen!”. But I was wrong! When I tried it out, nothing happened at all.
Fear is a choice. Fear does a great job at trying to convince you that you’d better listen to it. It wants your attention and energy. However, you don’t have to dwell on fearful thoughts. When they arise, you’re free to say “No thanks!” and let go of them in peace. Fear would be delighted if you forgot this.
Even though fear feels ugly and repulsive, it just wants to be loved. Just like those masters of camouflage and mimicry in the jungle, behind its scary disguise fear is a cute, lovable creature. That’s not surprising, since you are a cute, lovable creature, and fear is you.
Fear is just a particular state of being that we are in sometimes. It’s an energy that we can create within ourselves and radiate, but also stop resonating with in a heartbeat – just like any other energy. We call it a negative energy because when we allow ourselves to engage with it, we block the flow of love through us and create disharmony in ourselves as well as in the world.
So, at this time I see fear as an energetic state of being, a choice, an illusion, an aspect of myself and ultimately a lack of love. What is fear according to you? :-)
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Comments
Comment from Andrew
Time November 11, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Great post lovely :)
I like that, seeing fear as lack of love. I don’t know what fear is, but I do know that it disappears with love. When I eat better (nourish with love), get sunlight (light is love), play, sing and laugh, and connect with people a lot of my anxieties are magically cured. It’s funny how that works. Fear is so wierd, it makes you think it is necessary but it really isn’t! Why does something so odd exist in the world?
Hugs :)
Andrew
Comment from Eduardo
Time November 11, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Fear to me is that voice who says: “You can’t do this, you can’t do that. You are not (strong, beautiful, intelligent, powerful, etc) enough. Forget it and go on.”
But it is whispering: “Do you know what you really want? Do you know who you really are? C’mon, I am not telling you, you have to discover for yourself.”
Fear is a signal that something is lacking, something is not yet fully understood or accepted within. There is something behind the curtain. What is it?
Love
Eduardo
Comment from Alban
Time November 11, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Thanks Rose, that’s a wonderful post ;)
Comment from Rose
Time November 12, 2009 at 9:04 am
@Alban: thanks and you’re welcome. :)
@Eduardo: I agree with you that fear is a signal that something is lacking, not quite understood or not quite accepted yet. It arises when something is misaligned in some way. I see it as a lack of love because when I have a close look at those misalignments, it always boils down to my being disconnected from love, be it love of myself, others, reality, etc.
@Andrew: hey you are right. I was seeing it in a more logical, narrow way, but you are right that when we bring more love in a broader sense into our life (good food, sunlight, nice hobbies…) then our general level of anxiety also tends to go down. I hadn’t thought of that, but it is true!
And yeah, fear wants us to think that we need it, but we don’t!
Comment from Rose
Time November 12, 2009 at 9:47 am
@Tom: yeah, absolutely. Fear shows us where we have misalignments, it shows us what we could work on. In that sense, it’s useful. Good feedback mechanism. :)
Comment from Andrew
Time November 12, 2009 at 6:20 pm
BTW Rose, I was just rereading my most recent article and I thought you might find it interesting and make an interesting conversation – if you have time, do you want to check it out? http://www.andrewgubb.com/drupal/good-and-evil
I love you. Can we get on Skype some time?
Andrew
Comment from Andrew
Time November 12, 2009 at 6:21 pm
PS I posted it here because I thought it was very relevant to this discussion. Forgot to say. :p
Comment from Tom
Time November 11, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Nice article. Reminds me of a quote by German TV-hostess/journalist Nina Ruge, who said: “Wo die Angst ist, geht es lang” (free translation: “Fear shows us the path to growth”). True for me, but maybe not for any kind of fear. ;)