On the Landscape of Fear

The landscape of fear and anxiety lies in the nebulous and undisciplined activity of the mind Good Traveler. Our fears strike at us from the shadows of our doubt and insecurities. Our fear plays off of our uncertainties, they create tension and then feed off of that tension in order that they may grow. I have begun to see this unchecked fear as a sickness within myself triggered by an undisciplined and overactive mind. This sickness creeps into me and harasses my soul. To counter these fears, we must have a strong understanding of not only the thing itself but the landscape in which it lives. We must explore that landscape and map it out clearly. Gaining this knowledge allows us to predict when fear and anxiety are rising, allows us to predict when they are mounting an attack against us. So, how do we accomplish this? How do we map this inner landscape and explore it rather than avoid it? After all, we are often so thankful when fears and anxieties are not plaguing us that we choose to enjoy the respite, enjoy not thinking about it, enjoy not being amidst those fears and anxieties for a while. But it is in these times of relative calm that we must be willing to dive in and explore that inner world. It does not need to be done all at once, but we must take advantage of times of peace to prepare for future battles. This mapping of our fears is conducted through bouts of bravery and self reflection. Journeys that we take within ourselves asking hard questions and trying to rationalize the roots of our fears and the potential triggers for our anxieties. What makes us feel insecure? What doubts do we have that we are hesitant to acknowledge? Is there a thing we can name that represents what we are afraid of? What is the most basic part of that thing that scares us? Are there times when this is more intense? What else is happening in our lives when these battles arise? What routines or habits of ours add to or reduce the frequency of these occurrences? Can we identify a single trigger? If so, can we avoid that trigger? If we can't avoid it can we at least mitigate the volume of our exposure to it? This questioning of ourselves conducted on the pages of a journal allows us to map out our fears and surround them with language. When we have language around a thing it can be approached with rationale and reason. It can be planned for, countered, predicted. So long as these things stay nebulous, as long as they remain specters in our mind they will continue to seem greater than they really are. Once we make the specters of our fears concrete, we can name them. We can see their patterns, identify their origins and even navigate toward mitigations or at least a reduction in their intensity. This is a long process Good Traveler and for most of us it can not be done all at once. It must be a sustained effort over a longer period of time. We explore, we map out territory and then we pause, we retreat and we reflect. Understanding is based on acquiring new information and giving ourselves time to process and reflect on that information. Doing this often enough facilitates the growth of new perspectives, and perspective can change our relationship to not only our fears, but to ourselves as well. Be brave and be willing my friends. Travel safe.