Stepping Away From Our Collective Field of Fear

We are overexposed to all forms of fear. It’s creating an imbalance in our bodies, minds, spirits and societies

“All right kids, hush and listen.” Our teacher gave us a stern look. “We’re going to have a safety drill in a few minutes. The buzzer will be loud. Don’t be afraid. Single file out the door. When you get to the hall, kneel down on the floor next to the wall and place your hands over your heads.”

The intermittent bap bap bap alarm blasted forth. Loud enough to carve holes through our skulls and send ripples of involuntary responses through our five-year-old minds and bodies.

Hidden sniffles, leaky tears, nervous snorts of laughter, and frantic whispers spoken. “Are we going to die?”

We had to endure many more duck and cover drills than normal in my not-so-sparkly hometown during the 50’s and 60's. Thirty-five miles upstream the Columbia river, Hanford Nuclear Plant was manufacturing plutonium for nuclear bombs.

Our branch of the super secret “Manhattan Project” created the fuel for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. This was a cause for celebration. We were told it ended the war and there wouldn’t be another.

Nuclear weapons became glorified to the point a bomb became the logo for our sports teams in high school. It was also embedded on the floor of our new gym in high school.

No one mentioned the Korean War which lasted three years from 1950 to 1953. No one talked about the ongoing Cold War with Russia either. Which began directly after WW11 and ushered in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

And then there was the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1975. A lot of people talked about that one. Why?

Because of massive, ongoing protests from the large subgroup of hippies, flower children, and other activists. All of us refusing to participate in the delusional, never-ending process of warmongering.

Take your involuntary military draft and stuff it where the sun don’t shine. We weren’t sacrificing our lives for a doomed war. If that meant a one-way trip to Canada, so be it.

The creation of nuclear weapons birthed a global field of fear. Who had the nukes and who didn’t became the ultimate power play across the political world stage.

Mentally ill dictators have the ability to destroy our planet’s ecosystem and large portions of humanity as well. A push of the red button and there we go.

The fear of nuclear annihilation is an umbrella shedding the trickle-down fears it produces. A nuclear holocaust is too frightening to contemplate. We don blinders and seek temporary assurances in all the wrong places.

Like stocking your basement with automatic weapons and going out into the world armed with your handgun, just in case. These actions contribute to the field of fear and guarantee someone, somewhere will use their weapon in a moment of lost impulse control.

Children are the greatest casualties in our unconscious transmission of fear. Kids come to their own conclusions based on intuitive feel and feedback from extensive radars sent into their environment.

With fear meters surging off the graph, we can guarantee children are picking up incoherent energy and attempting to process it. And failing. They are overwhelmed with our concentration on shadow and want to be the kids they still are.

Parents send their children to school hoping it will be a ‘normal’ day. Their child will be able to learn and play without fearing a shooter will enter their domain. You will see your kid alive and whole at pick up time.

If you live in Uvalde, Texas you might go home and fill out a DNA kit so your child can be identified after a shooting. This is what it has come down to in certain states and communities.

We keep avoiding the root of the problem and focus on absurdities such as our right to bear arms. It’s a definite state of disequilibrium when adults are demanding the right to bear arms while children’s needs remain unmet.

We are born with an innate sense of joy and connection to our Source. We can lose track of it as we age, but we usually experience a window of grace in early childhood. Veils are thin and states of consciousness blend into one another.

Our enthusiasm for life is evident and felt. This state of pleasant and smooth presence is a necessary buffer zone to develop. It cushions the blows we will later receive as adults.

We are losing that soft and safe landing pad. A lack of trust is being established. We tell our children not to interact with strangers. Kids can no longer play freely outdoors and explore nature with curiosity.

Violent video games have normalized weapons and shooting for many youths. If kids continually play aggressive and violent games their brains will entrain shooting as a solution. Visual images form powerful neural synapses and become freeways.

We could stop buying violent games. Limit kids’ time with devices and talk to them honestly according to their age level. Their brain is slowly being programmed and conditioned toward fear. It’s up to us to arrange new signposts on the road.

We live in a world of polarity. Nature demonstrates this fact daily. The sun rises and our world becomes lighter. Darkness descends and the moon begins rising.

Light and shadow stories are played out in front of our eyes as Universal Laws. One is dependent on the other. Parts co-exist to form a whole. We, humans, mirror the same principles of balance.

Why are we so intent on dwelling in the shadowlands? We’re not living in perpetual night. We wouldn’t survive. How did our day go AWOL?

We’re having trouble recalling how much good is taking place everywhere. And it is. Countless daily acts of compassion and kindness across the globe.

News wants views. It focuses on what’s sensational and disturbing. I would have no problem viewing a Good News Only channel on TV, but I only come across those in ‘real’ life. How strange.

We carry destabilizing images and sounds forward. They morph into worries about what could happen, instead of taking note, it isn’t happening in our current reality. An ongoing dynamic of anxiety and tension greatly contributes to the out-of-tune symphony of fear.

We change by our willingness to become self-informed and realign our compasses in alignment with our hearts. Replacing mistrust with a valid belief most human beings will not hurt us and will help if needed.

I was sexually assaulted twice by strangers while still in my teens. The first episode I had recently turned 13 and I had to fight for my life.

I not only survived intact, but I learned the very deep value of facing fear. Confronting the deepest fears I could possibly harbor served up my liberation papers.

These two trials offered a ‘Rapid Path’ form of Initiation. In two powerful lessons, I acquired the tools I needed for the future lifestyle I would choose. A highly effective honing of my intuitional blade.

We throw out lines to connect us to the web of life. Our weaving can stream through nature, animals, art, and every expression imaginable. We can be assured we are never alone.

We all want to be loved and seen for who we are. And the majority of us are willing to extend compassion and empathy as a natural response.

I was blessed by others’ generosity beyond measure when I was on the road. The spirit of sharing became a healing balm for my soul. My travels began matching a series of inner excavations.

I relentlessly pruned out embedded fears implanted during childhood and adolescence as the bus rolled down the road.

We can change our world by transforming the energy our fears produce into fruitful actions which serve ourselves and others. Look at what happened in Brazil.

Activists and folk from every stratum of society united and removed their short-sighted, ex-President Bolsonaro out of office. Opening the door to a wave of constructive new energy with Lula da Silva at the helm.

I traveled the length of Brazil for six months. I had never been to a country with such a diverse population. If a very large nation with a long history of racial and cultural complexity can move toward equality, we can too.

It’s an endless tightrope dance on the spectrum between shadow and light. Recognizing perils in a precarious hike through the valley of morals and steadily choosing the path called integrity.

We’re not alive to suffer needlessly. We’re here to learn and grow. Every passage has its struggle. When we’re out of synch we’re like stubborn weeds trying to break through cracks in concrete sidewalks. Golden dandelions rising to greet the sun from the merest sliver of soil.

Humanity offers living proof we can turn our lives around by mending the cracks in our hearts.

Nurture yourself, children, and any other person you can extend goodwill toward. Inject vaccinations of hope, love, and trust on a daily basis, near and far.

Our world is slowly shifting toward a state of flexibility and receptivity. First, we must endure the chaos of deconstruction. We will soon learn to negotiate successfully and how to resolve our disputes without violence.

We are at the precipice of a new world that’s in formation. History does not have to repeat itself. We can wipe the slate and form new coalitions embracing peace and equality. We start with home base first.

We can change our world by meeting our fears with each step forward on our path. They are only as powerful as we allow them to be.

Listen to the songs your heart is dancing to. It’s every tune but fear.

A shout-out of gratitude to Susannah MacKinnie whose question prompted me to write this piece. If you need a dose of magical imagination and creative art, be sure to check out her wonderful work.