Flip Side of Fear
I love to walk in the evening for all the health reasons. I know I need to regularly move my body and I have found that walking and listening (to poetry or music) also helps me keep my mind and soul in balance. Recently after a long travel day I took a walk in a place that holds great familiarity for me, but not the the same level of comforting knowledge I possess of my usual walking routes at home. Would walking in this place in the gloaming hour counteract the peacefulness I required because I spent the entire walk looking over my shoulder?
As I walked, I listened to Read Appalachia’s conversation with upfromsumdirt, he said: “I’m not afraid in these woods.”
That sent my brain straight to a poem as I contemplated the many things that the patriarchy wants me to be afraid of and what I am actually afraid of. The hard truth is that those in power want us to be afraid because if we are afraid we won’t speak up, we won’t leave, we won’t live the life we choose rather than the life chosen for us.
Where/when are you not afraid despite the cautions of others? Where/when do you feel safe against all conventional wisdom?
In the end, my walk through the woods was quite safe (physically and emotionally) and my poem about my fears has some serious potential so I hope that either my invitation or the thoughts and poetry of upfromsumdirt will provide some inspiration to you.
