Fluent

  “I would love to live
   Like a river flow,
   Carried by the surprise
   Of its own unfolding.”

                 – John O’Donohue

    One of the nice things about my book tour is the number of gentle people (I think of them that way) who wait in lines and come up to me, and whisper to me or speak softly about their appreciation for my writing about fear. Strange, really, that a subject like that would draw so much feeling and response, but it reminds me, yet again, how often what we call media report on the wrong things, or put more softly, fail to discuss or report on the things that really touch us.
  Everybody has experienced fear, I see, but some are wired for it more than others and find life more of a struggle, as fear is a crippling disorder and brings to a halt many a life and love, and work of creation. There are more things to be afraid of, for sure. Like used to be simpler, more comprehensible and less expensive. When someone acknowledges fear and lives beyond it, it is a victory and a triumph for all of us who have struggled with it. There are so many such triumphs, I realize, but none of them are considered news, even though they are, in some ways, the biggest and most important stories of all. The gentle people tell me these stories wherever I go, and I am affected and inspired by them. We are an odd community all of our own, invisible, really, but connected.
  I have odd notions about fear, as I am blessed and cursed with willfulness. When I feel frightened, then I know that what I fear most often simply has to be done. In that sense, fear is a great motivator for me, as I am so used to jeering at it that when I am not paying attention, it sometimes grips me like a huge wave and tosses me around. reminds me to respect it and take it seriously.
  Still, most of the time I think of the World War II general who was surrounded and greatly outnumbered by enemies and when asked to surrender,  said, “nuts.” Victory, said Churchill. Our goal is victory.