Eternal Eye for a Flash in Time

Hang on to these moments of our youth, for they become the trusted handholds and firm footing for many a slippery slope as we cross into our later years.

autofox

A friend asked, “…were you listening to what I said just now?” To wit I quickly and quite honestly replied, “no - I wasn’t, I was listening to what I HEARD.” And that’s the way it is…alas, the closer the voice gets to our ears, the less we listen to its source. Perhaps, in seeking to know someone, we begin with what we seek to observe within ourselves.

Two Effects of Fear - Cause for stasis or "fearless" behavior

“we so often lose sight of the truth through our fears…. so much so that our fears begin to create the truth for others. Your ultimate responsibility to the world is to be fearless… do this for me and my children and I will do it for you and yours.”

I wrote this in my mind as I listened to conversations among strangers, lamenting and wallowing in doubt and desperation over the economy, the environment, the socio-political state of the world. Not one action considered except to duck and cover…this fear is a contagious form of compulsion to do…nothing. Even when there is little to do, the willful choice to do nothing, to submit, is far worse. The fearless few need only undertake a little to embolden the masses to do more; even if it’s just a vote, a word of encouragement, or a Facebook post. The world is a chorus temporarily out of key….a few beautiful voices with a little more volume and the willful harmony of others will go a long way. Some just say, “QUIT YER BITCHIN!”

A friend accurately cautioned, that “…we need to be fearless for the right reasons. To be fearless for the wrong reasons can be unconscionable & sometimes outright dangerous. Embracing equality in my opinion is key. Awareness of when, why & how should be taken into consideration…”

And I thought a bit more…

I thought, “were the terrorists that flew jets filled with people into buildings filled with people, fearless.” Some might say they exhibited fearless “behavior,” but even if so, I think they were completely filled with fear…and not of dying. From early in their lives, they “feared” encroachment upon their inner values, they feared leaders, they feared the choices they faced between their moral values and those of others, who also feared. Sound minds, ill morals, and fearful to the point of being incapable of anything but loathsome reprehensible behavior - ironically carried out “fearlessly.” It is a personal, internal, moral, fundamental, and native choice within ourselves to be “fearless.” (aside from those with psychosis, who are fearless!) And I should have been more clear on that. My fear has brought me to many fearless choices…one made to take up arms against a foreign nation and culture that, albeit never visited, became representative of all my learned fears. The precise opposite of fear is fearless… and if the opposite of fear is love (which I choose to believe for myself), then love is fearless. And maybe that is the better message…