Sunday, February 25, 2007

notes on a theme, pt. 2: or fear

or fear
orpheus
oh furious
need! most paralyzing fear of abandoment
complacency: the fear of taking a risk, making a stand, putting our fate in our own hands
ego is fear becoming beautifully self-aware and tragically self-criticial
aggression spins our fear beyond our locus of control
envy, well,.... her friend is always more afraid than she is herself, only she cannot see it.
desire is our fear of dancing at a party we didn't want to attend, alone in a room full of strangers, painfully aware of our shoes
fear is around us, beyond us, behind us, and in us,
a sure bet
But I always cheer for the underdog, the sheer impossibility, the come-from-behind, the lost, the lenten vow
so
fear is impossible
not even of death
or dogs

-inspired by Marina Zurkow's Nicking the Never, now in Coburn Gallery in the Worner Center, Colorado College, until April 12th. Promise me that you will go.

3 comments:

Klayton said...

Sue,

20/20 on Friday night was all about fear, and why it is paralyzing America. Many of our fears are completely irrational due to statistical improbability. For instance, your child is more likely to be struck by lightning than be kidnapped, and yet we drill fear of strangers (and thus, fear of community) into our kids' heads. We spend billions of dollars to insure that little towns in Iowa have outrageously expensive Homeland Security equipment that will never be used. Check out this four minute clip, which demonstrates the typical American's lack of statistical understanding.

suesun said...

We should try that experiment in class!
I read a great article recently about child molestation, and how we cannot even begin to deal with it until we understand that a majority of it comes from inside the family/friend network, not from strangers. We all KNOW that, intuitively, but the so-called "stranger danger" that schools (and most parents) seem to insist on teaching them can actually be harmful. First and foremost, as you say, it creates a fear of community, but more than that, it often sets them up to trust the wrong people.
maybe it's just convenient that stranger and danger rhyme. What rhymes with uncle?

Klayton said...

Just "dunkel" (German dark beer). Hey, alcohol and molestation go hand in hand!