Fear means to be in the Unknown
Fear does not have a good standing in our societies. Usually it is seen as weakness and needs to be overcome. It is seen as something obstructive or crippling and that can keep us from achieving our goals. This is right to some point, but does not really hit the nail to the head.
On a physical level, what people usually refer to as fear, is their reaction to fear. I wrote about automatic reactions already here. The holding, contracting of the fear is what we do and which is
limiting us.
Whether I contract my shoulders, breath more shallow, hold the belly, the legs and the butt: It is this individual bodily reaction, that forces me in the given situation to become this certain, repeating „way of being“. This experience of fear is limiting, obstructive, unpleasant and power-consuming and this is it, that we don’t want and that keeps you away from things we want and need. If I hold my body like this, of course it is very limiting and can increase the fear into a panic state. So it is about our reactions and with enough attention we can control these automatic reactions.
And also: no problem with fear so far. In my experience fear is rather some intense energy that floats the body – as a reaction, we are tensing up, not to sense this incredible amount of energy floating into our body.
If this flow of energy „is allowed“ to be, it opens up our state of being to the present, a floating presence within the Unknown.
For animals to really pay attention to their surrounding and to allow this constant „flow of fear“ is something they do constantly. Without any effort. For our antsistors and humans today in more tribal communities it is likely that it was and is also the common state of being. Fear as part of the deep notion to be alive and wanting to survive. It was crucial that all senses where to the outside, to sense our surrounding.
Why is (allowing) fear so important on a more practical level for your personal life and growing?
Fear is part of becoming yourself in almost any moment. Every time that you learn something really new or when you make a relevant decision you are confronted with notion of the Unknown and what we usually call fear. You are leaving your frame of reference. Most of us think that this is not good, that we are going to get lost or something, or that we are loosing the love of others, our security and so on.
Especially in the American culture to leave your comfort zone mean to „toughen up.“
What I mean here is the opposite. I suggest to get strong and „permeable“ at once, to allow (and admit) the fear involved. It brings humility (instead of heroism).
Many important moments in life will involve fear. To be strong, to be honest, to be truely ethical in your own sense, to start a new career, to leave a bad relationship, to confront some one you love, to stop a certain habit, to move somewhere else, to withstand the doctrines of your society and culture and to find you own truth. The intensity of our fears will often shake us to our bones, it can be a matter of sweat and tears, there is sometimes no way to „look good“ when we live up to our heart and values.
When our self-images are starting to shake, we start to notice all the layers of embrassement, shame, insecurity, pain and confusion. So yes, fear is intense, but nothing wrong with that.
So how to get there?
If we breath, if we really pay attention to our body and to the surrounding we can be new. And by this we can come back from the place locked up in our minds and by chance – meet other people and place and many miraculous experiences.