...a friend showed me a yoga prop with colorful lettering along its side....it read: do one thing a day that scares you....I said getting out of bed scares me....mission accomplished...
It is because a fellow is more afraid of the trouble he might have than he ever is of the trouble he’s already got. He’ll cling to trouble he’s used to before he’ll risk a change.
Byron Bunch (William Faulkner, Light in August)
...there’s a popular new and old agey belief about fear...that it’s a bad thing...that, with the right attitude, everything will be okay, so fear is something purely negative, to be overcome....obviously, anyone who thinks that way doesn’t get around a city by bicycle...
...to be an urban cyclist is to have a healthy relationship with fear...to see it as your friend...not your boss, your friend...to listen to, argue with, sometimes respectfully ignore...knowing that it’s there to keep you safe, but you never wanna be too safe...
...and when do you think it will all become clear?
‘cause I’m bein’ taken over by the fear...
Lily Allen
...one thing most people fear is being seen naked...figuratively speaking...(as well as literally)...I see this with yoga teachers, sometimes...acting so blissed out, so overwhelmingly positive, so damned spiritual you wonder how they deal with mundane earthly matters like paying bills or getting the toilet fixed....nice, I think, listening to another fake Rumi quote...(made up, most likely, by some anonymous greeting card company employee)...while transitioning from chaturanga to upward-facing dog, but not someone I’d likely wanna hang out with away from class...but then I run into the teacher in a coffee shop or bar and find a perfectly down to earth person with a snarky sense of humor, who's actually a lot of fun to talk to, once that bogus yoga teacher mask is off...
One day you’ll wake up in the present day,
a million generations removed from expectations
of being who you really want to be...
Ian Anderson
...met a woman who grew up in Poland in the 20’s and 30’s, and, years later, came to the United States...though Jewish, she spent the years of World War II working in a factory in Germany, having, somehow, obtained "fake papers" that identified her as a gentile...and so lived, year after hard year, hiding behind a false identity, knowing she’d be sent to her death if anyone found out who she really was....(when the war was over, she went back home, thinking to find at least someone from her previous life, but every last one had been killed)....
...thankfully, most of us don’t have to live under circumstances like that....though we might act like it, sometimes...
* note: the bike and car in the picture are both mine...no sentient beings were harmed in the production of this blog post...*
10 comments:
darn it Dr. Jay, i read the whole post, very interesting btw!! loved it, but i was looking for the part of the accident, to see if you were OK, and then i read it was a staged accident right? unless you were trying to run over yourself, eh!! the trick worked, i read attentively to the end, expecting to hear you were OK, and you are, that's one great story, the Polish woman, and great selection of quotes... the yoga teacher coolness vs. real world situations, too
lol- same as berenice! Great post and glad you're ok!
I was hoping the bike was a set up but I was ready to face my fears if it wasn't. Phew!
Oh the circular road stepping off with an accident scene ruminating on fear to a truly fearful situation. In your ideation yes I can see the usefulness of fear and constant vigilance.
301,000 miles on our civic...good little car once I replaced the speakers I blew out listening to Canned Heat.
beautiful post Dr. Jay. Truly beautiful. Fear is most certainly a companion to respect and open to with friendliness...there is no where to hide. it simply is part of what it means to be human...and while in some cases it can send us miles, years into the future, it can also be an invitation to the present in this exact moment.
Love your bike! Interesting to think about fear. As it relates to bikes I definitely have too much of it. But getting out of bed doesn't scare me nearly as much as it did when I had to go to an office.
I did truly have a panic attack when I thought you had removed me from your Blog List....whew, there I am!
the concept of fear has been a heavy weight on my mind lately. when i saw this post, it felt good to have a cosmic connection. i'm glad you get out of bed in the morning. ;) we'd miss you if you didn't. unless, of course, you keep your laptop in bed. best to keep it on the desk. xo
You haven't lost your touch sir! Read right through.
I often wonder the same thing about people who seem so blissed out. How do they deal with life? Bliss is wonderful, but it doesn't translate well to the ridiculousness of everyday modern life very well.
Holy cow, drjay, don't skeer me like that! Now that I know you're okay, I can say that's a nice looking bike AND helmet.
I totally agree with Lydia about fear and working in an office...which I'm desperately trying to avoid...however, we all know that $$ doesn't grow on trees.
And I can relate to the Bunch quote as I've always been a skeerdy cat...except on the bike, which is probably where I should most be frightful, as I'm an impatient rider.
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