bourbonimbued

[bourbonimbued]

A campfire can be comforting on a cold night. Even therapeutic. The warmth of the flames and soft glow brings security to a lone soul deep in the forest. It keeps the monsters at bay. Maybe a person brings their own monsters into the woods with them.

As the warm glow recedes and night trudges on the chill sets in. There's more fuel wood out there in the darkness but one may not be prepared to search for it. So you huddle there while the ring of firelight retracts and the monsters creep closer. The dark wraps around and gradually strangles your senses. So focused you were on the fire that you can't now see what lies beyond the nocturnal border. You see movement out of the corner of your eye but when you turn your head to focus it's already gone.

There are two feelings then. Fear and terror. Fear is natural. Intrinsic. A biological imperative and acceptable response that steers our species towards preservation. Terror is learned. It's a construct. It's debilitating. It's counterproductive.

So maybe we should all sit back for a moment and figure out how to use fear to fight our monsters. And maybe..just maybe..when our campfire looks like it's going to die..maybe we'll prevail.

[bourbonimbued]

From time to time I feel like most would benefit in the long run from a humbling weekend of being cold, wet, hungry and perhaps even scared in the woods alone. Daily discomforts and inconveniences of the modern world may not seem so bad afterward.