facing fear: rising up

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Part 2 of the mini series that am writing on Women’s Web.

Part 1: Facing Fear: Speaking out

Part 2: Facing Fear: Rising Up

 

I had pretty bad Acrophobia – fear of heights. I am not going to say what worked for me will work for others who suffer from it, in different intensities, but this is just a personal note on two separate incidents that had me reacting extremely.

Some fears will stay with us awhile, some rear their heads in certain conditions and then some others just vanish with age or maturity or just perspectives. Some we are consciously aware of the effect they have on us. Once we recognize what it is that brings on the cold sweats, maybe, just maybe, there will be an intervention to stop, take stock and isolate the source of it.

Hopefully this helps a few others realize that it is possible to deal with fears practically. Am not saying I have completely brought it under control, but am at a place where I can handle it. That’s a start right?

chutzpah

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Audacious.

There is a certain naive chutzpah in the kind of blog posts I write. When I started it, I was just another blog. Another nameless person who tapped words away and one among many. Then I got smoked out and I continued, intermittently, occasionally hesitating, sometimes braving and at times not caring, and the other times editing it to make it workable.

I imagined that the natural progression and the worst that could happen would be to play dodge ball. With situations, confrontations, or ones who may just use pieces of words here out of context to their own profit. Then again, I believe teh world is a much better place than we give credit for and people are generally very nice, unless they are affected in some way and situations dictate their behavior. No one is inherently wicked or mean and no one has an agenda all the time.

I still believe in that despite a few awkward moments. At best, that’s all they can be. If everyone lives up to their expectations of doing the right thing and not intrude into another person’s thoughts or life, it’s all good.

As long as information gathered is digested and understood, there is no intrusion.

Once that information is used to be acted upon for personal benefits, that’s trespassing.

That’s when it starts to bruise the heart that I wear on my sleeve here.

But then, I asked for it. Most hearts are protected against wear and tear, under wraps as they are meant to. I don’t. Not because I don’t care for it, but because the heart likes the sunshine and the warmth and the freedom of the air and the open space.

No one’s to blame. It’s all part of my choice to wear my sleeve out on my personal blog.

 

all it takes

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to move a mountain is not just for you have faith in you, but for someone else to have faith in you. Especially someone who knows how to move a mountain and move it well. Someone like a teacher. To have faith and to push you and to tell you, that you can do it.

I speak of dance. There was a time when I could do some intricate movements, with speed, grace and elegance without looking like I got out of a wringer. It was precisely 9 years ago that I performed my best role in a dance ballet. I was at my peak. I had worked hard, very hard, physically pushing my limits with some amazing mental strength and stamina, and I rocked the stage, I loved my scene. I was also pregnant – all of 19 weeks when I performed.

I don’t think I thought through the decision to continue to perform despite the sudden pregnancy. Never mind that I was just recovering from a bad attack of shingles and I was weak, but, I had agreed to perform much before any of these and so, there was no two ways about it.

Baby came.

Weight came.

Depression hit.

The blog started. Writing became my new passion. I was laissez faire with everything else.

Cartilage tear happened.

I gave up. I taught, I danced a bit, not pushing myself, not stretching my limits.

I was afraid.

Afraid of hurting myself again.

Afraid of believing in my capability.

Mainly afraid that I will let myself down.

No one believed in me.

No one pushed me.

I needed to be pushed and no one knew or cared enough to push me. To dance again. To believe in the dancer in me. I let them not believe in me. I failed myself and helped them fail me in return.

Until today.

A dear teacher from 9 years ago came back to visit us, and now I can dance again. I am sweating. My thighs hurt. My hips hurt. My brain is fried from remembering the routine on what comes after what. I panted. I couldn’t speak. I moved. I pushed my feet to remember that it was a 5 beat and not a more relaxed 3 beat.

I was told to have a vision. I was the only one in the place. I was asked to think back to how I felt back in the day. To feel what I felt. With my eyes closed. Why can’t I be the same person again. I can do it. I should be able to do it. I had to be selfish. The only important person in the class was me. No one else cared or cares and will ever care on what and how I perform, except for me. No one really ought care, except for me. Did I want to change status quo. Of course I did. The *want* came from within. It wasn’t there yesterday. It wasn’t there this morning, but it was there 2 hours ago when I stood as a student in front of a teacher who *believed* in me.

She picked up on the details. The way I made an entrance. The fluidity with which I could keep up with her voice. The grace with which I lifted my foot and placed it down. The way I moved my eyes with every step. The ease with which I remembered what came after what. She *told* me. She mentioned every single thing that I was doing *right*. Encouraging me. Goading me when I looked like I could pass out. Challenging me. Positively. Questioning me on why I should’t and what was stopping me from doing it better. Breaking it down into edible chunks.

Every single thing she did to me, I could see me in her. I have goaded, pushed, encouraged and challenged other students of mine. I believed in them. In their power to bring out their best.

The power of faith.

Today, I saw me in her. Or maybe she saw me in her.

Coz today, I have faith in me. Coz my teacher had faith in me.

The stars have aligned.

They dance to my tune.

Do you have any idea how that feels?

It feels like a thousand yellow buttercups waving in the gentle spring breeze to the tune of Katie Perry’s Firework

 

 

 

 

 

 

facing fear: speaking out

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New article and part of a series on Facing Fears. The struggles I faced internally as a child, teenager and as an adult and how I overcame (some complete, some partially) most of them. Maybe it will help others identify, relate and give them the courage to dust themselves off it and be free.

Why is being free important?

Coz it harnesses potential. It makes you grow uninhibited, and to your fullest.

Isn’t that what we are destined to do and the most important reason we are placed on this wonderful earth and society?

Do head on over and read: Facing Fear: Speaking out. Part 1 of the weekly series.

keep calm

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..and carry on.

Yep, that’s what I have to do.Picture 70

So I did something really lame, stupid and downright ridiculous this morning, like at 7.30 am, on a Sunday. That in itself should be cause for alarming incredulity, but hey, we always try to beat the last time we were lame, and this time I outdid myself!
I didnt have my coffee by then, so am going shift some of the blame onto my caffeine deprived brain cells, but I can’t squirm out of this one all too nice yet. The recent weeks have been rough. In different ways. No, the kids are great and to an extent so is the husband (I mean, as unruffled as a normal couple of 20 years can be) but it’s all within. There’s just a lot of turmoil. It’s only fair.

This is the age to hit the mid-life crisis traditionally speaking. So I have hit and boy, have I hit it strong. Even Geico can’t fix it. (okay, lame joke, but today’s lame day remember?)
So yeah. I now have a flat blunt nose with how I’ve hit the breaker hard and square.
Ive done a few different things in the past 20 years of my adult life and none of them were failures. They weren’t back-slapping successes either, but if someone saw a quick 5 minute movie of my life, they’d be completely blown with the variety Ive packed in. Optometry to Information systems to dance to I don’t remember them anymore!
..and then we have those frikkin emotions. (no, am not PMSing either, can’t dump it on that crap!)
The feeling of complete uselessness, of inadequacy, of being lonely, of missed talents, the ones that can’t be shone, of *old* age, of lost loves, and current friendships and the whole drama of the unfairness of society, the cellulite around my hips, the buckets of cinnamon rolls that I downed, and the WTF am-I-doing-with-my-life-for-the-next-20-years-before-I-can-officially-retire-and-move-to-florida phase, of frustrated thoughts so deep down, they have their own zip code, and so much more.

So you see, my poor brain has been hitting this high traffic zone. So many different sparks, so many thoughts, it’s a fishmarket in there. Yep, when thoughts stagnate and fester, they stink too. So they stunk. (I just discovered, that past tense to stink is stunk. Nice! It feels very wrong thought right? say it aloud? “that fish stunk!” or “cooum river stunk every time we were stuck on that train!” – sorry, I digress!)
So yes, thoughts can stink. You, am sure are amazed at this complete devil that is stinking up your thoughts inside stirring this huge vat of thick poison. The flotsam which should if all proper vitals were working, would be neatly skimmed away, stayed thick and frothy. And theyve been frothing awhile. You ignore it thinking it will go away, but it’s there. Like IPL tweets on twitter. No, they aren’t flotsam at all, but you know what am saying. So they froth, collect more dirt and darkness and then they take over and engulf you when you least expect it.
That’s precisely what happened this morning.

It all came crashing down on me.
I barely got out of bed, and I barely had the toothbrush sticking in my mouth, but there I was frothing like a rabid dog.

*not a moment I ever want to recollect or even visualize as I write this, but we have to go through this for repentance, so we shall bear it through*

..and so I spit it out. On teh most unsuspecting gentle and loving friend I will most likely ever have. We all know how frikkin annoying we are as adults, and to make one good decent soulmate sort of friend is like asking for Arnab on TV to shut the hell up: Impossible. There was this person in the middle of heavy duty work and pulling with all strength and might through sleepless nights and lonely days, and I lay it all like a pile of crap.

Spit. Vomit. Repeat without rinsing.

Yes, I am a piece of work alright. As harsh as that may sound, at that very moment I was not worthy of understanding, care or even comprehension.

I regretted it since the very minute the words were out.
I waited for my frothing to slow down and with some coffee in me and deep breaths later, I wrote a quick apology out with as much grace as I could muster. I check in an hour with great apprehension, and guess what, the mail didnt go through. Perfect.
Now I rewrite it again, with a little more elegance and grace I can muster as a direct contrast to the uncouth language of before and I send again. A hour later, I get a feeble “it’s ok, have a good one”

My heart sank as it expected to.

As kids, it didnt matter what you say and when and who. It was expected.
To hurt someone as an adult deserves a special place in hell and that’s where am off to once I figure out what am doing with the rest of my life and when I do kick the bucket. To hurt a dear friend deserves oil-frying like they show in those old B&W movies.

..and then, it’s silence. Deafening kind. Radio-silence kind.

..and the heart continues to slink, regret, cry, cringe and hope that maybe, just maybe, you will be forgiven.

Guilt sucks.

In the meanwhile, what else can I do.
You mess up, you repent, apologize, and then you hope and pray and blog about it, change FB profile picture, try and joke around, read articles like so
(it’s actually very relevant and excellent and situational too) and hope and pray that maybe tomorrow will be another new day to smile and carry on calmly about.

Yeah. Keep calm and carry on. Coz there’s not much else one can do. Coz we’ve done plenty (damage) already.

Ugh.

moving day!

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Yes, we have officially moved and I will be posting on the other site kowthas.net. Usually am a considerate woman and if I could save youa  click, you know I would and I have done that before when I oved from blogger to wordpress.

But apparently wordpress has gotten greedy and wants to charge us a few bucks to allow re-direction. Now I’d write my home away to charity and the well being of the world and the wretched in general, but I am a grinch and a stingy one at that to pay for something that should be given free. With that said, I hope you wouldn’t mind clicking on that link above or below and bring yourself to my current home.

see, I knew you’d understand :-)

We are tunneling at kowthas.net now!

We are tunneling at kowthas.net now!

Click here for Tunneling Thru