About fear

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MayaSantiago
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Posts: 401
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:02 am

About fear

Post by MayaSantiago »

Dear all,
I'm reading a great book, I'm sure you know about it. Is called "Life of Pi", by Yann Martel.
I just wanted to share this little piece about fear. I felt so identified with what it says thinking that fear and fear to be abused, especially, have been very damaging in my life, and reading about the need to express it to become free of it (in such beautiful words) was great for me. Hope you like it.

"I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, repects no law or convention, shows no mercy (...) Fear disguised in the garb of mild-mannered doubt, slips into your mind like a spy (...) Reason comes to the battle for you. You are reassured. But, to your amazement, despite superior tactics and a number of undeniable victories, reason is laid low. You feel yourself weakening, wavering. Your anxiety becomes dread. (...) Quickly you make rash decisions. You dismiss your last allies: hope and trust. There, you've defeated yourself. Fear, which is but an impression, has triumphed over you.

"The matter is difficult to put into words. For fear, real fear, such as shakes you to your foundation, such as you feel when you are brought face to face with your mortal end, nestles in your memory like a gangrene: it seeks to rot everything, even the words with which to speak of it. So you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don't, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you."
If you survive, if you persist, sing, dream, get drunk
This is the time of coldness: love, hurry.
The wind of hours sweeps the streets, the roads.
The trees wait: but you don't have to wait
This is the time to live. The only one.
Jaime Sabines
there
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Posts: 9795
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:41 am

Re: About fear

Post by there »

thx, MayaS,
you've really got me thinking!
All women are beautiful. Period.
I deserve better than survival.
MayaSantiago
Member
Posts: 401
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:02 am

Re: About fear

Post by MayaSantiago »

Thank you, There. I just finished the book (last night). Wow! It is such a beautiful fable of life. If you can find it I highly recommend it!
Maya
If you survive, if you persist, sing, dream, get drunk
This is the time of coldness: love, hurry.
The wind of hours sweeps the streets, the roads.
The trees wait: but you don't have to wait
This is the time to live. The only one.
Jaime Sabines
earthhorse
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Posts: 3179
Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:12 pm

Re: About fear

Post by earthhorse »

So powerful!

Thank you!
"One kind word can warm three winter months"
try
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Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Sep 19, 2019 12:59 pm

Re: About fear

Post by try »

Bertrand Russell wrote on fear. (This from memory so slightly mixed)

...when l speak of fear l speak not merely or mainly of metaphysical fear....

but of the fear which enters the soul

through experience of the major evils to which our lives are subject....

Injury, frailty, sickness, decrepitude,

the deaths of those whom we love..

The treachery of friends
there
Member
Posts: 9795
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:41 am

Re: About fear

Post by there »

try,
true words, to the point.
thank you.
All women are beautiful. Period.
I deserve better than survival.
michimoo
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Posts: 24
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2019 3:47 am

Re: About fear

Post by michimoo »

Thanks for sharing! Very powerful and especially moving to me as I have begun recently for the first time in my life speaking about my experiences. I love the way the author was able to convey WHY it is so important to be able to talk about our fears. Definitely got me interested in reading the book.
~michi
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