Fear

Did a little experiment with my doggo. Well to be more specific she's not mine but my younger sister's. Anyway some background story about the dog, whenever it rains she'll start trembling, her breathing intensified, she'll scratch on your door if you let her outside, she'll try to climb over your bed when you're trying to sleep and constantly pace around and over you, not caring if her saliva is dripping on you or not. Well that's horrible. I couldn't stand it and let her outside so I could sleep. Noise is better than physical disturbance eh.
So it was raining this morning and I grasped the chance to figure out what is this doggo's problem with the rain once and for all. I followed her around, I asked her questions again and again, I tried different actions to see her changed reactions, like treating a crying baby you couldn't understand. I was devastated that technology today have so many different translators available on the market, why don't they have a doggo-to-human translator! Anyway in the end, I found out that she was actually afraid of the thunder, instead of the rain itself. She was anticipating thunder whenever it rains, you know, no rain no thunder. So I tried to simulate thunder by playing some YouTube video that I could get my hand on, of course the quality was not at all on par with the real deal, (not the video quality but my phone, mind you) at the same time comforting her that it was alright, and what do you expect! She gradually calmed down and me a happy boi.

If I had started this experiment I wouldn't have to suffer for so many years, looking back.


My doggo was afraid of lightning-thunder because it thought that it'll bring death, fear of death. I knew at the back of my mind that there are people that are afraid of the lightning too. But will it really kill you? It will if you are unfortunate enough under the rain and under some special conditions, but that's all in the past now. Protected by buildings, the chances of it happening is really less than a percent, I don't have the figure but to be as pessimistic as possible. So what is this fear? I would say BASELESS fear.
Fear by itself is not a bad thing, instead it is actually your body mechanism to prevent mishap or to protect you from harm. How about baseless fear? It prevents us from achieving what we truly want in life. The feeling when you break free from confinement, the feeling when we soar through the sky, the feeling when we appreciate an art, the feeling when we finally able to connect with each other, the feeling when you know deep down what you want to do with your life. True bliss. That's what baseless fear blocks you from.
You can't communicate with your fear, but you'll know how it changed with different stimuli. Accept that it is there, let it follows you around, ask questions again and again, do different kind of actions and check its intensity variations, to get to that point when you finally know the root of all of those, then if you are willing to, train your fear to confront it little by little. Like a baby, like my doggo. Please don't run yourself to a moving car, or jump down from a building, brave but dumb.
It's not easy, but in due time you'll find yourself stronger, even if it's still there.

By the way, doggo is dog, just a cutesy way of saying it, not my doggo's name. And dog-to-human translator? Wait till we fully understand how human brain works, then we talk. Peace


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