Fear of the unknown is a basic human reaction. It resides in our cellular memory, from all the times we needed it to survive. The coronavirus exemplifies an unexpected and unknowable mass event. We have no idea how our lives will ultimately be affected. And predictably, the Unknown has brought us all to fear.
How we express this fear is individual and can be affected by crowd mentality. What are we going to do with a year’s worth of toilet paper? Logically, we all know hoarding toilet paper is unnecessary, but it really became an expression of the impulse to tame our fear. A way of expressing:
“I will control something in this big gap of the unknown” and “I will supply myself with a fundamental need and that will tame the anxiety about the rest of what I have no control over.” Did it work? No. Because the real fear is “what’s going to happen?”
There’s another way to look at this huge bowl of Unknown. My studies in different modalities have brought forth another perspective on the Unknown. What if the Unknown is not an uncertainty but an open possibility? What if instead of trying to fill the void we consider that positive possibilities still exist to be created? If I fill the unknown with what I think should be in there, only having the information I now posses, I may be blocking a new and wonderful thing that is just waiting to bloom in my life. Something beyond my present ability to imagine.
This is scary and challenging. It means significant shifts in how we interact with others and ourselves. But this means growth! It’s Spring, a time when young plants fight their way out of the boundaries of soil and express their essence in form of flower and fruit, scent and color. It may seem effortless as it happens every year, but it takes a great deal of energy to transform.
Consider this: there is more than one side to any situation, and perhaps fear isn’t the only reaction. Be loving to yourself and others in this time of possibility, and be the best version of yourself that you can.
