fear & curiosity

graffiti of a butterfly hovering a branch that contains two nests of heartsGood morning!

(too nervous for much else)

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My pup was brave this morning on our walk. She hates storm grates, goes out of her way to avoid them. She’ll run in to me, stop walking, pull at the leash to keep away from whatever’s down there.

This morning, there was a lemon sitting on the storm grate that we pass at the beginning of our neighborhood walk. She stopped, intrigued, then planted her feet and pressed her body forward, both hesitant and driven. She wanted to see what that thing was, but it was hanging out in the scary place! She spent several moments, inched closer, danced around a little bit, managed to get closer to the storm grate than she has yet in our walks together so that she could satisfy her curiosity.

Her bravery helped her push past the fear. It’s not a metaphor, that story, but it could be.

I’m off to take the GRE today, a test I’ve been terrified to take. I took it once, back in the early 90s, after I’d been forced to withdraw from school, but it’d been too late to get a refund on the test so I just went ahead with it. I can’t tell you anything about that test; it’s gone from memory now. When I looked at MA programs, I selected only those that didn’t require the GRE — who needed it.

Turns out I do. I am curious about some things, and want to study/write about/talk about/learn about them more deeply. In order to do that in a way that works for me, I need to pass through this fire. This morning I am taking Sophie’s energy, her spirit, that moving in with purpose and awareness, in spite of fear, with me.

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A quick prompt — maybe you saw this one coming: write about a situation you or your character moved through, driven by curiosity, in spite of (but along with) fear.

Thanks for how resilient you are, the way you hold your fear by the hand and show it what you both can accomplish when you just keep going. Thank you for your words.

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