Sunday, June 14, 2020

The Fear Factor

Our big boy kitty Flow knows his home very well, it's sounds and smells and shapes.  He is comfortable and at ease here.  The only times he is afraid is when there is something new, something different.

We humans, too, are programmed by Nature to be afraid of what is new; it's a natural instinct.  Think about our lives in this modern age.  How many new brands and their advertising, new ideas, new people, new information we are subjected to every moment of our days.  How many different situations and people we are told to pay attention to and be afraid of.  Our leaders change regularly.  We change jobs and where we live.  Our technology is constantly updated, whether we want it to be or not, so we have to adjust to new keystrokes, new icons, new apps.

We are assaulted by change at every turn.  Change in itself it not bad nor dangerous, except there is that instinct in us, not always recognized, to be afraid.  And so, in the face of our changing, shifting world, we become defensive or even offensive, turn to tribalism, or bury ourselves in avoidance behaviors: video games, drugs, celebrity worship, binge watching TV, social media, overeating.

This explains a lot. 

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