The other day, I said something about how going on retreat has made me ever more sensitive to the fears being foisted on us. And I thought I would talk a little more about that.
Most people aren't going to follow my lead and try to live outside the world's fear-based paradigms. It is (as I have found out) nearly impossible to survive on the margins and seriously, I don't recommend it. But perhaps simply being conscious of whether something represents love or fear is a first step. If I cannot see "love" in a phenomenon, and I am conscious that I only wish to engage with loving people and situations, the hook of fear may be less likely to take hold.
For the moment, I'm not talking about the biggest fearful things, such as that our leaders will send us down the rabbit hole, or that gunmen will open fire on us, or that climate change will make earth unlivable. I am thinking about the smaller but more widespread way that fear is used to promote the spending of money, and to influence our larger attitudes. There are so many examples, but what has been particularly striking to me this past week is the marketing of prescription drugs. Despite the fact that these ads routinely show smiling, happy people, the undercurrent is clearly fear, the fear that if you do not take this medication, you will get sicker or die. Of course, most of the advertising also (comically) trumpets the possibility that taking this particular pill could lead to death. Lawyers are fearful, so long, copious lists of caveats are intoned. We are trained to fear being seriously behind the technology curve, to fear attacks to our computers or our homes, to fear living without the right clothing or labels or investments. We are trained to fear high numbers. We are trained to fear low numbers. We are trained to fear everything from romaine lettuce to missing out on the best deals. Truly, I don't know that I have ever seen advertising based in a genuine love of people and their well-being.
"Once we buy 'x' we will be OK" is the larger belief being peddled here. But the right pill, or the right bite of food, the right politician, the right weapon, or the right lifestyle -- they are all outside us. The truth will never be popular with advertisers, right? The notion that peace and love and health and security can only come from within won't ever be popular with merchandisers. The notion that "life is eternal and ever-blossoming so there is nothing to fear" won't ever be popular with most powers-that-be.
I have largely transcended many of these smaller fears, and even the huge ones, because when you've survived as much day-to-day uncertainty as I have, you know that you'll survive not eating a particular hamburger or taking a particular pill. If there are still fears and frustrations within me, they have more to do with how on earth to be powerful on the margins, outside the mainstream. And that, too, can only come from within. I need to feel my power and own it enthusiastically. I need to remind myself that other peoples' fears do not have to be mine. I need to smile, even laugh, at the most ludicrous fear-mongering coming from outside me, and face it with a strong, easygoing shrug of the shoulders. Somewhere in her talks, Abraham-Hicks says this great thing about how being diagnosed with cancer should be approximately the equivalent of finding out you have a spot of mustard on your shirt. Having no fear, you would face virtually any challenge that way. Shrug, smile, wipe off the mustard, and move on.
