Fear of the Dark
Published in The Blog. Tags: Recovery.
“The things we want are transformative, and we don’t know or only think we know what is on the other side of that transformation.” –Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost
Embarking on any kind of new direction can be, and often is, overwhelming. A new beginning can come with fear – the What If? being a mysterious darkness where the unknown is yet to be characterized as either a friendly or fearful place… and until that journey is flowing and momentum begins to further light the way forward, my mind tells me that place is to be feared.
No matter what the goal of the pursuit might be, the unknown of what is to follow casts a shadow. And in that shadow, a monster exists. Past experiences have proven that the monster is never as big as my imagination tells me it is, but still I fear it. Past experiences have also shown that the growth that potentially awaits is always significantly more transformative than my voice of self-doubt would have me believe, but still I discount it.
Transformation awaits, but without stepping into the unknown we’ll never find out what it looks like.