David Horsey says it all.



C

"Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself": FDR's First Inaugural Address

Fear.....what I would call the base emotion. Fear elicits the Fight-or-Flight response
in the body. Releasing catecholamine hormones into the body. From Wikipedia

If a stimulus is perceived as a threat, a
more intense and prolonged discharge of the
locus ceruleus activates the sympathetic
division of the autonomic nervous system.[4]
This activation is associated with specific
physiological actions in the system, both
directly and indirectly through the release
of epinephrine (adrenaline) and to a lesser
extent norepinephrine from the medulla of the
adrenal glands. The release is triggered by
acetylcholine released from preganglionic
sympathetic nerves. The other major factor in
the acute stress response is the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.[5]

That's a lot of very heavy duty drugs. Our response to fear can also
be that of anger or rage. Wanting to lash out at that which we see
as a threat. The Fight response.  We are taught at an early age to
suppress fear. Especially boys/men. It is considered weak to show
fear...even experience it.  We know now this is very unhealthy but
is still passed along.

Anger is still considered a valid response to fear, though it results in
unacceptable behavior. 

How we deal with fear has a great impact on our lives. It determines
the choices we make and actions we take. By making decisions based
entirely on fear, we will generally make the wrong decisions and take
the wrong actions at least 50% of the time. However far too many people
react in this manner.

But what if we are in a situation where the fighting or fleeing are both
inappropriate ?  Such as having to have surgery like I did this week ?
The whole idea of having some one "slit me up a treat" scared the living
piss out of me. This was the first time I have ever had to make this
decision. The appropriate one being to take the action that scared me
in the first place. Could not fight it and running like a bat out of hell in
the opposite direction would have resulted in a very bad out come.

There was a book out entitled Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway. I never
read the book but the title says it all, I think. But the key word is Feel.
Most of us do not really feel fear as we have had far too much time
covering it up some which way. Sometimes with other emotions.
(anger) But to really feel it can do wonders. Oh we will have the common
physiological responses.

Paling or flushing, or alternating between both
Inhibition of stomach and upper-intestinal action
Etc.

But do we really feel it ? I know I usually do not and try to push it back
afterwords.  To really feel it in the gut and maybe even going to tears
like a child is a very healthy thing as long as you do not base your
decisions on this completely.

This is where the health care debate hit's home for a lot of people. It hits
directly at the basic fears of most people whether they will admit it or not.
The fear of injury or death.   And they will react with anger or try to avoid
the question completely. Denial. 

Fear can also lead to trust. I trusted my GP to make the right decisions.
I had to trust the surgeon to know his skills and the anesthesiologist
to know his/her skills as well.  And I had to trust that I had made all the
correct decisions despite my extreme anxiety.

But trust does not come easy and for some not at all. It is built up over time
generally. It takes Feeling the Fear and doing it anyway. And finding out that
in the end. It's going to be OK. Even it the results are not quite what we had
planned in the beginning.

C

This photo essay on Detroit really struck me. Old northern cities
have a certain mystique that captures the mind. This one of
Detroit does and reminds me some of the time I spent in
Cleveland.

People sometimes forget that the old cities are very complex
and interwoven environments that simply cannot be condensed
into just a few simplistic paragraphs and caricatures.

They a people of very diverse backgrounds.

C