Invite Fear In
If Fear had a colour, what would it be? If it had a shape, what would it be? Take out your pencil crayons, invite Fear in, and draw your Fear.
That is a variation of an exercise that I learned years ago from Debbie Ford[1].
Today, there is much fear. For some, it is fear of contracting the virus or their loved ones dying. For others, it is anger – and anger is a mask for fear – over various theories of causation, over being manipulated by the media, the government, big pharma. There is fear of permanent loss of freedoms and liberties.
So I’ve been doing a lot of reading, thinking, and meditating on Fear. During today’s sunrise walk by the water, I penned a letter to Fear.
Dear Fear,
Good morning.
You are welcome here, just as all emotions are welcome here.
But starting now, you are in the backseat; you are no longer the driver. I will still hear your cautions, for that is your role – to provide warnings and alerts – and I thank you for what you do.
Starting today, Joy and Hope are driving with me. You may come along for the ride but, if you get disproportionate with your back seat warnings, I will turn up the radio. Andy Grammer will drown you out. Because it is, after all, good to be alive right about now.
Come along, Fear. Let’s go for a Joy ride.
Uh huh, uh huh, oooooh.
And with that, Fear took a backseat, became appropriate in size.
As I stood at the water and Fear quieted, I heard the water gurgling over the rocks and the woodpecker tapping. Then I heard the definition of fear that I learned from Grandmother/Lori Wilson[2]: “Fear is an anticipation of a potential outcome.”
What if, instead of expecting the worst from this situation, I began to expect the best?
“Imagination leads to intuition leads to Higher Self.” [3]
So I let my imagination come out to play, driven now by Joy and Hope. What if all this stuff was happening for reasons I hadn’t imagined? What if this time in The Waiting Room[4] is a time of rest, a time for healing, a time to create, a time to generate goodness, a time to read Mary Oliver poems. A time for deep conversations with those I am sequestered with, a time to (virtually) reconnect with old friends.What if the world was slowing down to give me time to finish my novel, to align the people and circumstances to release the story?
I began to imagine a new world, beyond my limited one. A new world that was Conscious and Awakened.
I let my imagination run wild. I tapped into my Higher Self and into that field of Love known as Spirit/Creator/Goddess. All That Is. Around us and inside. I envisioned a better world. Healthy. Compassionate. At peace.
[Insert your best world vision here.]
Let your Light shine. Be the Lighthouse.
And turn up the music. Hallelujah!
[1] Debbie, Ford, The Dark Side Of The Light Chasers (Riverhead Books, New York, 1998.)
[2] “Staying Calm & Clear in 2020 (Ongoing, free insight and strategies for all),” Inner Access 101 Intuition-Based Training. www.InnerAccess101.com
[3] https://www.adironndaspiritualhealer.com/
[4] Deborah Carter, MDiv.