The older I get the more I start to realize that I’m not the only one who is scared of either;
- Being found out
- People realizing you don’t know everything
- Failure
- Being Alone
- Getting stuck
- Unfulfilled dreams
- Being crap
- Sickness
- Death
- All the above
I could have gone on and on and on, but I’ll keep the list short for fear of upsetting someone (see what I did there?) I’m not going to use this as a catharsis for my own neurosis, simply to say that I’m just like the rest of you only worse. I will give you one example just to make you laugh at me and perhaps yourself. I’m 47 and I’ve already battled several bouts of meningitis, HIV, several cancers as well as several brain tumours, hepatitis A and B, strokes, a heart attack (which turned out to be indigestion) and many more life threatening illnesses. Oddly enough I’ve never had a simple cold or headache. Of course I’m making a joke out of my ability to imagine I have all kinds of sickness - bottom line is I’m scared.
You may recall a recent post encouraging artists to rise up and give people the words to articulate their inner voice, this is an ideal place to start. Use your own fears to inform your writing and maybe you could give a voice to people who are scared but who don’t have their own way to articulate that fear.
After all, if we are going to live with this fear stuck to us like treacle, then we may as well make it count for something.