Facing Fear

We are daily fed reasons to be fearful. In a world of cataclysmic transition/transformation, when all the myths of our culture are falling away, it’s easy to give way to the doomscrolling and the prophecies of disaster – to teeter on the edge of paralysing fear that undermines our sense of self and our ability to show up in the world the way we want. It’s easy to fall into an endless loop where being afraid of being afraid is a self-perpetuating cycle.

But Fear is not bad in itself: in the right place and the right time it’s what keeps us alive when we might otherwise rush headlong into danger.

What’s hard – what’s sapping our resilience now – is the constant fear of things just around the corner – things we can’t see and can’t touch and over which we have no control – this kind of fear isn’t useful at all.

Denial is not a good strategy though, and suppression doesn’t work. So how do we find the balance between acknowledging our healthy fears while reaffirming the wonder of life so that we can bring the best of ourselves to the table?