Fear beckons. I choose Love.

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I scour the newsfeeds, as if my search will lead me to the thing I seek the most. Hope.

It isn’t there. At least, I can’t feel it beneath the fear that rises up to grip me.

I do not want to feel the fear and instead, turn to my studio, as if in immersing myself there, I will discover hope rising.

I still feel lost in my fear of the fear that stalks me.

I lose myself in a book, as if the words lining the page will somehow make sense of what is happening in the world around me.

I lose my place in the words I read again and again. My eyes blurring with fatigue and worry of fear’s tight grip.

I numb my senses in a Netflix series, as if the ongoing drama of fictitious characters will somehow help me find my place in all that is going on in the world around me.

I cannot stop what is going on in the world around me. I struggle to free myself from this place where fear threatens to drown me.

Holding my breath as if underwater, I fear I have nowhere to go.

I let go of fear. I take a breath. And then another. Life-giving oxygen fills my lungs. Fills my being. Fear diminishes. Courage rises.

I dive deep into myself, breathing into the beauty of this moment where the river flows endlessly towards a distant sea.

Above its steely grey surface, I watch a family of three walking with their dog across the bridge. The leash is held in their child’s hand, taut. The dog pulls. The child rushes to keep up. The dad rushes to help his child. There is fear in his quick steps. I cannot hear them but I can see the child’s laughter. The child’s joyful insistence that they keep hold of the leash. The dog pulls, urging the child to keep going. The child runs after the dog. Laughing. The parents join hands and follow.

I breathe in the joy of this tiny moment played out upon the bridge and feel the heaviness of my fear lighten up.

I watch two geese skim the surface of the river, honking loudly in their flight. Their wings expand and they fly up into the still chilly air of this April morning where spring hides high above in a clear blue sky. A cold front is passing slowly, ever so slowly, through. In the presence of the geese returning from southern lands, I am reminded, this too shall pass. Spring will blossom.

My heart lifts with the expansiveness of the geese taking flight and I feel life flow throughout my being present in their passing by. There is hope here. This too shall pass.

Held in still, soulful silence in the deepness of this present moment, I watch two squirrels chase each other up and down and all-around a tree trunk. They are fearless in their wild flight from tree limb to tree limb. My heart beats wildly. There is joy in their animal kingdom style game of tag.

I smile with them. My heart beats freely. Joy is here. Laughter. Fearlessness. Life.

I scoured the headlines searching for hope.

It wasn’t there.

It is here. Silently flowing all around me and deep within me. It flows like the river, carrying me always deeper into this present moment where the eternal beauty of life fills me up and I flow fearlessly in its embrace over the threshold of this moment, into the next.

And in each moment, I take a deep, life-giving breath and find myself lovingly held within the beauty of this moment right now.

This moment in which love flows freely.

I searched the headlines this morning looking for hope. I found only fear lurking between the black and white words and numbers blurred into incomprehensible statistics beneath my tears.

I wanted to give in to fear. I wanted to dive deep into hopelessness.

Instead, I chose to follow the thread of the river to where it leads me deep within to that sacred place where all I need to sustain my peace of mind in these days of turmoil and grief is that which is ever-constant, ever-flowing. Love.

I wanted to give in to fear this morning.

I choose Love.

 

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I am sharing this with the Tuesday Photo Challenge as the word this week is Hope. Without hope of this pandemic’s end, the future would be grim.

 

 

 

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20 thoughts on “Fear beckons. I choose Love.”

  2. Louse, another post that totally makes my heart feel both your fear and your joy at the beautiful things you see on your walk.
    That is life. Let us concentrate on all these moments of beauty and smiles.
    I so choose along with you:
    ” I wanted to give in to fear this morning.

    I choose Love.”
    ❤️

    Miriam

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

  3. Louise, this is lovely and so real in its shifts from looking outward to inward for hope.
    I totally resonate with “lose my place in the words I read again and again. My eyes blurring with fatigue and worry” – I am in the process of reading/reviewing a memoir to be released in June … chronicling struggles way worse than anything I’ve endured … a valuable factor nurturing my perspective on COVID-19 through contrast.
    And I love the dog and child on bridge sequence – multiple metaphors displayed in real life (brimming over life!)
    Very glad to know you!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  5. So beautiful. Yes, choose love and mindfulness of being in the moment. Because, it is of course all we have!

    There is so much fear and so much heartbreak ~ it is hard to deal with it all, it can be overwhelming… but it is in those moments of mindfulness of watching the squirrels, that those moments become more important than ever. Moments of nature, moments of normalcy.

    Stay safe and healthy.
    Much love your way….
    Peta

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

    • I am sending you much love as well Peta and thoughts and wishes and hope for good health and well-being.

      It is those ‘moments of normalcy’ that I strive to infuse my thoughts, my body, my spirit and my day with — sometimes, I do it with grace. Sometimes, I struggle. Always, in the struggle, I know it is fear rising and then, I must once again breathe and choose Love.

      Hugs of well-being to you both my friend.

      Like

      Reply ↓

  7. Louise,
    This captures the struggle I also face with fear. It is easy to get sucked into hopelessness. It is also possible to choose our thoughts and keep our eyes on love. You shared this beautifully.
    Thank you for your strength and efforts to choose love over fear. I especially love the ending of this.

    “Instead, I chose to follow the thread of the river to where it leads me deep within to that sacred place where all I need to sustain my peace of mind in these days of turmoil and grief is that which is ever-constant, ever-flowing. Love.

    I wanted to give in to fear this morning.

    I choose Love.”

    Breathe it in. Thank you for this gift to my day.
    Ali

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  10. Pingback: Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 206 – Dutch goes the Photo!

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