It is intelligent to be fearful during this Covid-19 thing. Not being fearful would be a form of foolishness and ignorance. Fear has its place. Is one separate from the fear that one has? Well, one doesn’t merely “have” or “own” fear. Psychological fear is actually part of what one is. If that part gets to be too habitual, too excessive, too dominant… then unnecessary disorder manifests. What is it that is going to “get rid” of excessive fear? What is it that is going to “control” fear from a distance? Is it going to be a supposedly separate set of habitual fabricated images and “learned mental patterns” that are designed to think that they are manipulating fears that are “there” (at a distance) to manipulate? (Such supposed psychological distance is fallacious and is a barbaric inheritance that maintains conflict and illusion. The internal psychological distance creates a false duality; it manifests as the “controller” and the supposed separate “controlled.”)
Security is important in terms of being healthy with food, clothing, and shelter. However, in the quest for mere self-oriented security, the mind-heart can become cold, mechanical, robot-like, over-anxious, and dependent upon strange and unethical patterns. Of course, in the present crisis, if you do not have enough food, fear is a very legitimate factor; good governments and groups need to do more to help people; currently, they are not doing enough. When i was young — and not so young — i quit a good number of jobs because i did not feel that what they were doing (or making) in them was ethical. I left quickly without much concern for what may happen to me. I like what Senator Bernie Sanders recently said: “We must break away from the worldview that everybody should try to become a billionaire — and you can lie, cheat, and steal if your goal is to make billions and not pay attention to the suffering of others.”
Life, real life, is so much more than a Monopoly game.
Compassion, these days, is not prevalent enough. But $ in people’s brains certainly is. Many cling to the apron strings of $ and security… and the real joy, extraordinary spiritual bliss, and meaning of life, unfortunately, pass them by. (Kudos to truly dedicated medical staff and other critical needs and essential needs people working at risk — selflessly — to help others in these very precarious times.)
We think internal fear is there to manipulate (at some kind of distance) and we think organisms that suffer are merely “there at a distance.” We may have been taught wrongly.
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
We may have been taught wrongly … I’d say that’s an under-stated given. We’re all experiencing an unsolicited re-learning of some basics under the COVID umbrella. This may be what humanity needed (painful as it is)
Yes, there definitely is an innate intelligence of Nature that is sending a message to us bipedal apes (who think that the planet is there for us to merely exploit and use). Not enough people are waking up, however. Stronger viruses will come, and they won’t be giving us second chances.
Very good reflection Tom!
Yes, thank you, Marcela! Stay safe!
love this reflection, thank you!
Thank you, Wendi! Stay cautious and safe!
you are very welcome Tom, thank you!
We were indeed taught wrongly. I love how you discussed fear..i think its also partly cultural, cos from where i am we were taught never to be fear regardless of…or should i say we were taught never to acknowledge our fears. It was only in my adult years that i learned slowly to recognize fear.
Thanks for this one Tom and keep safe in there
Thank you, Michelle. 🙂
Not acknowledging facts (and lying about what they are or about your relationship to them) is not a very prudent way to go. It is self-deception really, and that just leads to more disorder, more mischief.
Stay safe, Michelle, it’s a dangerous world out there!
You are so true …thank you …
Stuck overseas….waiting for this pandemic to end for all the travel bans to be lifted…
Really useful ! Very detailed post and explanation was great. I had a great learning. Thanks for such a really useful resource. Keep it dear! keep sharing such amazing things.
Thank you, WIM! 🙂
I am happy with my simple life and would have been content to continue living such a life to my dying day – now, through the efforts to dismantle the pandemic task force which was put in place to thwart what we are going through now, plus a raging virus which cannot be tamed and will rear its ugly head again and again, my simple life will be a worried life. It terrifies me quite frankly.
With our incompetent government, currently run by a number of sociopaths, you have every right to be frightened, Linda. Just don’t let it get to you too deeply. I avoid the news often… because the insanity is just too much. What a joke the U.S. has become.
I love the simple life too and i don’t mind being locked at our nature-home one bit. Tons of critters right here! 🙂
Stay safe and simple.
I agree with all that you say Tom. I was laid off due to the recession in 2009, then my mom was ill, then passed away – I took a little time off, but I didn’t travel or go anywhere, just a breather as I was told I would be re-hired soon – “soon” was in June of 2011 and only part time. I told my boss I would not go to work for a half day. I don’t like driving in Winter and I went with my boss when he wanted to leave the Firm after a bad merger … so I was not going to take two buses to get to a job for four hours. I said I would take a cut in pay and work from home, which I did. Dumb me – I often worked more than four hours, but liked the idea of working from home – I’ve been to the 9-5 job, had done it many years. I am sure some people think I am an underachiever, but I don’t care what people think. The house was paid for, the car was paid for so I decided to cater to me. So here I am with my simple life almost 10 years later but it was the best decision I ever made. My fear is that I could have made more money if I had returned to a traditional workplace, however, I’ve not touched any of my long-term investments (which hopefully will still be there as the stock markets tanks over and over again and we are headed to a recession to rival the Great Depression). I will be angry if I have to live like a pauper, even lower than my simple existence to this incompetent government.
I am missing my Park since they closed it down due to people who refused to social distance properly. You will happy to know this fact that I will not share on my blog as it is carried on the blog roll of the local newspaper, but I have stolen down to the Park four times since it closed, through the trees, using them for cover, and leaving peanuts on the picnic table at the pavillion area. The squirrels are savvy enough and caught on after the second time – they now greet me there. 🙂 I figured this would give you a smile like it does for me. You stay safe and simple too Tom An unfettered life with just nature suits me just fine.
I admire your simple lifestyle and i feel that the lifestyle choices that you made, Linda, are very admirable. E. E. Cummings, who i feel is one of the few of us who attained true satori/enlightenment wrote in his private journal under the heading “Cummings’ Law”… “Anyone who has more than a dime in his pocket is a moron.” 🙂
There are so many people that feel that what they have in their bank account is the measure of their success… (which is so utterly idiotic).
When i wrote my first comment to you (up above) i remember thinking how very lucky you are to be working from home (where it is much safer). Count your blessings! Another name for slavery is 9 to 5 jobs… (only people have been brainwashed enough not to see it as slavery).
Funny about those smart squirrels; it did put a smile on my face, but nothing made me smile as much today as us watching Wanda Sykes on YouTube. Good God, she is talented! Keep those squirrels happy with nuts; the real nuts are running the government. 🙂
Ha! You should see people here in Fl. As they never heard that there is a virus. No distancing at all, no measures are taken. I try not to watch news any longer. First time in my life stop beliving what anyone is reporting….. tap inside and see what’s good for your own soul.
Yes, and new Covid-19 cases are skyrocketing in Florida. Not a place where i would want to be. And the water (that many are denying) will be rising.
I’ve thought a good bit about why I’m not paralyzed with fear because of the Covid virus, as some of my friends and acquaintances are. I think a contributing factor might be denial. I know people who say, “I’m just not going to think about it” — and yet, they seem to be consumed by it, nonetheless. It seems to me that in the face of such a threat, if we take the time to learn about it, and learn what precautions to take, we’re far freer to live our lives without the sort of fear that paralyzes.
I see your point, i think. I feel that it is prudent to have reasonable fear about it without being consumed by it or, as you say, paralyzed by it.
I also feel that they are not — perhaps intentionally — telling us all that they know about it. Covid-19 can travel as very tiny virus-sized aerosolized particles easily (and remain in the air for a long time). You can easily smell the cigar smoke from the man driving a car in front of your car. Does this mean that you can be inhaling virus particles additionally? Marla and i are very high-risk and i do not follow vehicles closely… which is wise to do, viruses or no viruses.
Take care and stay safe, Linda.
I am tired of this virus but with parks opening I will see if I can get away to nature. Sure hope those buses run next month or later to the park. I am fearful of a spike again because I see people are getting together in groups. I stay away from people but keep in touch online and by phone. I reordered a book from years ago, “Feel the Fear and do it Anyway.” by Susan Jeffers about dealing with those fears that hold us back in everyday life. Enjoy the upcoming long weekend. I don’t plan to go anywhere except the valley here in the city.
With warmer weather, people are bound to get together more in groups. This will cause an increase in virus cases. We live in a very rural area and there are plenty of “nature” places to go to without running into someone. We have many pets and our home is like a little zoo/aquarium facility, so i don’t have to go anywhere to be with nature.
I haven’t ever read Jeffers, but i will tell you this: some people exist with (or “as”) an overabundance of fear. Certain books might help but rarely do any of them truly investigate the essence of fear and one’s relationship to it.
Take care, Jane, and stay safe.
Beautiful mushroom!
I loved your content,its amazing. How you put forth it so easy to understand. Beautifully written.
Keep writing and inspiring us.
By the way i write too.
Check me out.
https://unfcukwithable.wordpress.com/2020/06/05/how-to-overcome-fear-of-failure/