Illustration Friday - Phobia

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This is my first entry in Illustration Friday challenges. I spent a few days thinking about what phobias meant to me. Most people are afraid of something and it may be that this fear they have drives them to do the things they do or behave the way they do. Some people believe that fear is necessary to survive and get ahead in life.

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Nowadays i like to think of fear as a natural human reaction but at the same time that reaction is separate from logic and choice. To be able to choose how you feel and how you react to things must be true mastery. But to be able to master emotions and reactions requires understanding and seeing things for the way it is, not what we think it is. To be able to discern between a valid thought and a delusional one.

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Perception and belief systems changes the view we have of everything. In fact our whole existence is based on perception and belief systems.

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When we allow fear perceptions to consume our reality, or when we succumb to the fear reactions of our perceptions and thoughts for long periods of time, that is when the trouble starts... and we cross the line into a world called phobia.

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We can be scared of many things but what if your greatest phobia was yourself. It would be like holding on to a spider and not letting go, yet at the same time screaming in horror constantly. It would be a continuous horrifying moment one after the next. Or perhaps the thing you disliked the most was yourself or your body .. whatever you identified yourself to be. There would be no where you could run to that you weren't already there.

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So they punish that very thing they feared or disliked,to eradicate what they thought was the source of that fear. Or perhaps they thought that if they punished it, it would learn it's lesson and be more likeable just like a parent chastising their child for "their own good". Perhaps then, they would be more likeable and lovable to other people but what some don't really realize is the acceptance their being craved the most is their very own acceptance of themselves.

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Fear saddens the soul and Love frees it.

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