Fear Archives - Page 2 of 2 -

A Child’s Fear

By Simone Lipscomb | March 2, 2014

The floats were slowly moving past with beads and moon pies and other Mardi Gras bounty being thrown from their decks. Music filled the air along with a general happy vibe. Then a loud shot rang out and the little boy in front if me dropped to the street and covered his ears. It was only the pirate float’s mini-cannon firing blanks but to the little boy it was gun fire.

Photographing Mardi Gras is great fun. Capturing different faces and costumes is quite a diversion from the nature photography that is my focus. But on this day my attention kept being drawn to the little boy who repeatedly dropped to his knees and flinched whenever there was the sound of a gun during the parade. Admittedly, I was unnerved a bit at first because the crowd was quite large and we all know anything can happen. But once I knew the source of the blasts it was simply an annoyance. For the child, it was anything but that.

Until reaching ten to twelve years of age, a child is in a concrete stage of learning without the ability to conceptualize and gain understanding of what is real and what is not real. So for the little boy yesterday, the shotgun blanks in the cannons were real gun fire. He couldn’t see over the crowd so could not locate the source of the blasts.

Fear was evident in his eyes and face, in his body movements. I finally knelt down and said, “Those sounds are scary aren’t they?” He nodded and his face relaxed. He went back to waving to floats and gathering beads and moon pies.

I can’t stop thinking about him…and all children who live in fear because of an increasingly violent society. What have we done to create a more gentle world? How have our actions or perhaps our non-actions contributed to the anxiety and fear of our children? How can we help make our communities kinder, more nurturing for our youth?

A quote from A Course in Miracles comes to mind: “What is not love is fear.” Lately I have asked some tough questions and with every hard question I ask the answer always points to love.

So…may we collectively find that which keeps us from loving fully and clear it from our hearts and minds. May love continue to grow and blanket our precious young ones. May the example we set teach our children of love instead of hate, of love instead of fear.

Building Walls or Building Bridges?

By Simone Lipscomb | October 1, 2013

Walls of steel…walls of stone…..wooden walls…walls of fog…icy walls…emotional walls. To protect….set apart…keep safe…isolate…obscure.

Who among us hasn’t constructed a wall of some sort? Perhaps a wall in a home to provide protection from the elements or to create space within the home for privacy. Perhaps a storage room or garage wall to keep property safe. Walls are an important part of our lives. Sometimes they are the only thing between survival and death.

We construct inner walls as well. Many times these are erected in childhood when we’ve been harmed and we do this to protect that deep, sacred part of us to insure it doesn’t get wounded, scarred…annihilated. It starts out as an intelligent, survival skill but as we mature that structure becomes a liability that cuts us off from the world and usually from the people that love us the most.

One of the saddest things to witness is a person who refuses to deconstruct such walls and therefore creates a tighter and tighter corner in which to exist. If people in that person’s life act outside a very narrowly defined behavioral spectrum, his or her walls push them away and they are exiled forever. No amount of love can penetrate such rigid structures.

The perception is filtered through old wounds that fester like poison within and keep joy and true contentment from being accessible. And while I have witnessed such tragedy individually, microcosmically, I see this on a macrocosmic scale in how one political party relates to another; how our country relates to other countries and even how we relate to the planet.

The basis of all of this wall-building? Fear.

The Course in Miracles states: What is not love is fear. Over 28 years ago I read that statement and have pondered it. I see the absolute wisdom behind those simple words.

I believe it is time to deconstruct walls. Inner walls erected between individuals, communities, political parties, countries…the planet. If we aren’t coming from a place of love then we are coming from fear. Is this really how we want to live? Can we make positive changes in relationships, communities, countries…on the planet if we continue to base our behaviors on fear? Look around and the answer is evident.

If we must build anything let us build bridges from my heart to yours, from yours to others, from community to community, political party to political party…country to country….human hearts to the planetary heart. Who knows…when we meet in the center of the bridge most wondrous things can happen. When we choose to come from our hearts instead of our wounds miracles are birthed.

The Seeds We Plant

By Simone Lipscomb | February 22, 2013

As the elliptical trainer whirled and my heart rate increased, my mind calmed. This rainy morning forced an indoor workout so to pass the time, I turned on an audio of a favorite speaker, John O’Donohue, and listened to his address called, Love Antidote. Even though it has been heard many times, more good stuff was gathered from his wisdom.

When he told a story or introduced an idea, my mind would take it and turn it over like a stone, wet from its life in a clear river. Textures, layers, colors spoke to me and offered insight into the human condition.

Have you ever had someone plant an idea in your mind that was based in fear? I have seen how much deep damage can occur when others sow seeds of fear and doubt in the minds of those we love, creating fertile ground for distrust to occur. The destruction of trust, joy and happiness that occurs when seeds such as this are scattered can be devastating.

I once had the privilege of helping teach a woman consumed with fear how to dive. She stood on the pool deck, that first night of class, and was shaking uncontrollably. Not even wet or in gear, she was terribly afraid. While my partner/instructor began the class, I began to work with her. What was uncovered were deep-seated fears about trusting herself. As a child she was taught to fear, to not trust herself to make good decisions. She experienced much growth from facing her fears and with a lot of one-on-one instruction from my partner, went on to become a good diver.

A friend of mine diving in Bonaire (not my student) — A friend of mine diving in Bonaire (not the student I referenced in writing) showing the joy that can occur from doing something that pushes us through our fears

“Occasions of fear are invitations for freedom and courage.” (John O’Donohue)

How many times do we allow seeds, that other people plant within our minds, destroy our peace of mind or even relationships with those we love? How often do those seeds of fear grow into mind-beasts that control us and ruin our happiness or our potential for happiness?

John said that fear blinds us and we see only one door, one possibility, when there might be seven or eight doors. Every person is the holder of incredible possibilities. Deep down, he said, we know exactly what is going on and we have to give that truth a chance. If we can drop into stillness, silence and solitude everything that needs to happen will happen. The key is recognizing the seeds planted by others, that we have watered and tended with attention, that overshadow the truth.

Injured diver from Great Britain doing a dolphin therapy session

He tells of sitting at people’s bedsides while they are dying and finding that regret is one of the loneliest places humans can ever find themselves.What is it that your heart truly wants to do but you are too afraid to do, he asks? What seeds have others planted that have made you doubt your own heart’s voice? How does fear keep you from living your life the way you want to?

So many need help…..children, animals, rivers, oceans, elders, trees, veterans. What holds us back? What seeds of fear have we allowed to take root so deeply that we choose no action rather than risk an imagined or perceived outcome based in fear, not in truth?

What if we choose to sow seeds of love and compassion? If we align our passion with that group or situation we feel most drawn to, only good can come from our step toward that which calls us. What is your passion? What opens your heart? My wish is that we all have the courage to step out of fear and follow our heart’s path. Imagine the results!

Girl Scouts welcoming wounded veterans to Key Largo, FL