Love and/or Fear

I hear people say they are not afraid of Covid19, therefore no mask. (I could go into a whole thing just about masks here, but that is not what this is about.) The analogy that comes to mind is driving safely. We follow certain rules to keep from seriously injuring anyone. That does not mean we are sitting in fear every time we drive. We are simply taking reasonable precautions for the protection of others and ourselves.

We are not choosing love or fear. That is a sad misunderstanding of human emotions.

We are love; that is who we are at our core. Fear is an emotion arising from the combination of our thoughts and physical sensations. Fear can be a motivator, a protector, a natural reaction to a particular stimulus.

So why does fear get such a bad rap? In our culture fear is viewed as weakness. New Agers think it is a “bad emotion.” Something must be wrong with you if you are experiencing fear. “Just choose love.” Tuning your heart to the love channel is wonderful. Yet somehow even when we are wrapped in the feelings of love, fear can pop up. It is not an either or.

A key point in working with fear is to keep asking a fundamental question: ‘What is this?’ The question is not: ‘What is this about?’ which leads to historical rehashes. The answer to ‘What is this?’ is always physical. For instance…[rather than withdrawing or acting out]…we take a few moments to feel our clenched neck and shaky hands, and stay engaged in whatever is going on… It has been said that fear is the opposite of love. Actually, love, in its fullness, has no opposite, and can encompass even fear within its loving circle. By taking the necessary baby steps to experience our fear, we express our wish to live in the openness and wholeheartedness of love. ~ Elizabeth Hamilton “Untrain Your Parrot and Other No Nonsense Instructions on the Path of Zen”

Fear is like any emotion that comes to visit. It has a purpose. Honor it, ask it what it has to say to you, dance with it. Allow it to run it’s course and you will once again feel free, free to expand into the love. Denying or suppressing it will only suppress your aliveness.

Everything you feel is your aliveness. At this time on the planet you likely feel fear, anger, overwhelm, joy, love and much more. Allow yourself to be grateful for being so alive! And allow the emotions you enjoy to be present deeply as you have now given them room.

We don’t need to know more or have more before we can live more deeply. We simply need to pay attention to what’s happening now. To open without judgment to the worlds around and within us.

Darkness comes from suppression of feelings. Resist nothing. You are now adding to the light on the planet.