I posted one of my articles on twitter – The Three D’s of Conversion Under Coercion, and received the following comment.

“You seem pretty fearful”.

So I gave this thought, believing that in the article, I was merely making observations about where we currently are in society and pointing out techniques of manipulation and how they can be used against people. But they may indeed be correct with their comment, and it has led to the thought that in this situation, there are different types of fear playing out internally and around us. I shouldn’t generalise it, when really it is quite personal to each individual. Even if the outcomes and mechanisms to cause them are the same. It also occurs to me it should not be a bad thing either to point out someone is scared or fearful, or for someone perhaps to admit it in and to themself. So let’s looks at it as a word and it’s explained meaning, as on the face of it, appears to be a very necessary part of us.

Fear – “a natural, powerful, and primitive human emotion. It involves a universal biochemical response as well as a high individual emotional response. Fear alerts us to the presence of danger or the threat of harm, whether that danger is physical or psychological”.

I have already written a chapter about Fear in my non-fiction book Meeting in the Middle of Nowhere but had only really reviewed that from a horror angle. Looking at it from the point of view of someone who can visualise the horror concepts, ideas and thoughts, and someone who can’t. And, have also written a chapter on it in one of my fictional books, about the different types of fear a predator relies on when stalking. But this one isn’t so specific as it can cover both of those. Once your sense of fear has been ‘activated’ and you assess your situation, as with this one we collectively find ourselves in. I have also written an article called Living in Fear, so like to think I have given this subject a lot of thought over the years.

But this one I believe they refer to and that they pointed out, would be the fear of what is unfolding and appears to be heading our way. Fear of the unknown, of being forced into something and of the future. Sounds quite appropriate to have that currently, so yes, I think they are right, I am fearful. These were normal and commonplace fears previously though, many a person for many a generation will have worried and feared for the future, in calm times and in times of great distress and upheaval. As this does indeed highlight, I have spent much of my life fearful of various things, but that was personal to me and my experiences, as is the case for everyone.

But how you manage your fear is what seems to be a big decider in your outcome or fate potentially. I have spent decades trying to manage mine, and however much I would like to think I keep a lid on it, or hold it down, it is there and is part of me. And it’s not by accident I ended up with so much, covering some of it in Conditional Release and remembering that hearing the saying ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’, gave me a focus in my youth, I heard it at the right time and it made me realise then that fear was ok, just don’t let it paralyse you or control you. In the right dose and situation, it can possibly help you…

(c) K Wicks