ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CAUTION AND FEAR
A HANDY-DANDY PERCEPTUAL GUIDE
AUTHOR-TURNED-STRATEGIC-PHILOSOPHER’S NOTES: In a world where most of us are constantly wondering what fresh hell is coming next – with an emphasis on what the fuck we might possibly do about it – it felt a little fortuitous to stumble upon this mini-essay from 2019. You know, the LAST time our economy cratered under Emperor Flathead’s rule.
What it lacks in specifics, it makes up for in soul fundamentals. And I hope you find it useful, as we brace for another day!
I just had the most fascinating conversation about the difference between caution and fear. Caution being wise concern about the risks of your path. Fear being recoiling from the imagined danger.
They may seem like the same thing, but they are not. Caution springs from an understanding of known worst-case scenarios. Fear stems from the unknown. Both play from gut instinct, but respond in different ways.
I could write about this all night, cuz the conversation itself was at least an hour long. But at root is the question: do you want to know what's before you, and make the choices that might lead you down the right path? Or do you want to back away, if not find yourself completely paralyzed at that moment of decision?
As Frank Herbert said in DUNE, fear is the mind-killer. It is the no to caution's deductive potential yes. One gives you the chance to pick the right path, make the right move, move toward what you really want. The other freezes you in your tracks, or makes you irrationally react.
We all make lots of wrong choices in our lives. But our instincts almost always tell us what's really going on. And the better we train our instincts -- which is one-half trusting our gut when it speaks, and the other half weeding out the bellowing ego-voice that insists it's right, even when our souls know better -- the closer we get to what we really want from life.
I may still be a bit of a dope sometimes, but the longer I live, the clearer that choice becomes. So maybe I'm learning something AFTER all!
Like maybe how to trust myself, in this beautiful, dangerous world. Where anything could fucking happen. And -- one way or another -- most certainly will.
Thank you, Skipp. I needed to read this.