I could suddenly appreciate the relative clarity of the sky at home. The drive forced me to accept that smoke doesn’t mean flame and that wind patterns change air quality hourly. I faced my abstract fears and created the concrete framework I needed.
Why do emergencies clear my brain clutter?
People with anxiety often do everything they can to
avoid the perceived external threat and, in turn, shut off access to both good and bad feelings. By procrastinating, we’re avoiding a task with the assumption that the task won’t feel good, and that means we’re missing out on any feelings of, for example, accomplishment or success.
In other words, my deadened response (staring out the window) is a type of procrastination. When the emergency hits, like a deadline, I’m able to stop procrastinating and get to work.
My takeaway about fear
The next time I feel myself fear flatlining, I will try (no promises, Michael) to take the advice laid out in the article and
treat procrastination as an emotional and mood regulation problem in order to move past it and get your work accomplished.
Learning from you
I would love to hear if this experience resonates with you, or what you’ve learned about your own response to fear. Reply to this email to reach me, or
join the Beautiful Voyager Slack group to talk about these ideas in real time.
Keep sidestepping wildfires, everyone.
