{"id":717,"date":"2012-08-19T08:34:36","date_gmt":"2012-08-19T12:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=717"},"modified":"2012-08-19T08:35:25","modified_gmt":"2012-08-19T12:35:25","slug":"fear-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=717","title":{"rendered":"fear itself"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Note: \u00a0Today is day 8 of 10 in our annual Guest Blogger Series. \u00a0Please remember: \u00a0the Intramuralist may or may not agree with the opinion(s) expressed. \u00a0The goal is respectful articulation.]<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSolar storm barreling towards Earth\u201d<\/p>\n

The headline made me stop and click on the link to read the July 14, 2012 AP article by Alicia Chang.<\/p>\n

Solar storm. Barreling. Barreling towards Earth.\u00a0 That can\u2019t be good.<\/p>\n

\u201cA solar storm is due to arrive on Saturday morning and last through to Sunday, slamming <\/em>into Earth’s magnetic field.\u201d\u00a0 (Emphasis mine).<\/em><\/p>\n

Instinctively my heart races a little faster after reading the first sentence in the article.\u00a0 Barreling<\/em> and slamming<\/em> definitely have me a little worried.\u00a0 I just know this solar storm is big and dangerous.<\/p>\n

Fear. Invisible, but potent fear enters my body with the air I breathe.<\/p>\n

The fact is, reasons to be frightened are everywhere we turn. The radio, TV, and the Internet literally scream fear into our lives: shootings, climate change, social change, you name it. Our political pundits are especially skilled at pushing our panic buttons.<\/p>\n

In his first inaugural address, Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed that \u201cthe only thing we have to fear is fear itself.\u201d\u00a0 Why is that? What are the ramifications of being fearful?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Chaos instead of clarity: When panicking we tend not to think clearly or rationally.<\/li>\n
  2. Cowardliness instead of courage: Self preservation trumps caring for others. Our survival instinct kicks in when we are faced with the imminent demise of our existence, livelihood, or even our way of life.<\/li>\n
  3. Division instead of unity: Fear makes us trust less, and when we trust people less we are more apprehensive about engaging with them, which in turn, fosters unwarranted prejudice instead of true discernment.<\/li>\n
  4. Pointing fingers instead proposing a solution: When busy playing the blame game, we often find ourselves too preoccupied with discovering who\u2019s at fault instead of uncovering answers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If being fearful causes us to toss out reason, can we choose to overcome our apprehension with something more constructive? Is it time for us to collectively take a giant step back and breathe some non-anxious air into our lungs? Is time for us to be courageous, confident, and informed?<\/p>\n

    Instead of reacting instantly to problem with deep dismay, ask questions, gather knowledge and find solutions.\u00a0 And have a little faith; faith in each other, and perhaps faith in something bigger than us.<\/p>\n

    Oh, and the solar storm\u2026<\/p>\n

    The next sentence in the article read:<\/p>\n

    \u201cScientists say it will be a minor event\u2026 We don’t see any ill effects to any systems\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

    And so I click on the next article, \u201cAre Farmers Markets Safe?\u201d<\/p>\n

    Respectfully,<\/p>\n

    Sharon<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    [Intramuralist Note:\u00a0 As one who has long been impressed and inspired by friend Sharon\u2019s musings, see more at <\/em>www.sharonsiepel.com<\/em><\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n


    \n<\/em><\/div>\n


    \n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    [Note: \u00a0Today is day 8 of 10 in our annual Guest Blogger Series. \u00a0Please remember: \u00a0the Intramuralist may or may not agree with the opinion(s) expressed. \u00a0The goal is respectful articulation.]   \u201cSolar storm barreling towards Earth\u201d The headline made me stop and click on the link to read the July 14, 2012 AP article … <\/p>\n

    Continue reading “fear itself”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[95,33],"class_list":["post-717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-life","tag-fear","tag-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=717"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":724,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions\/724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}