Fear is a motivator—and it is a negative one. When we fear, we are at unease. The act of creating a poem or a garden is freeing. We want to make such things grow and flourish. Earlier I wrote about resources and the lack of resources. These conditions can make us afraid. I want and do not have. I seek but cannot find or attain the things I believe are necessary for happiness in a materialistic and capitalistic society. This leads to great fear and such fear can last for decades. One can ask if it is possible to rise to another socio-economic class in this country. Someone says, yes, but for some it is very difficult. I agree. This is a great illusion in America. Greed is seemingly the way to go. This is an illusion of happiness or the American “dream”.

Rilke once said if something is difficult this is a good thing. Uncertainty according to Keats is the right state of mind for a poet. Yet is such a state the cause of unease or joy? The act of creating a work of art is joyous. This joy offsets possibly the larger losses for some of us. Yet the difficulty is a weighty thing. Certainty has its place. Negotiating these things fear, uncertainty and certainty is important.

We try vainly to control such circumstances and when someone seems to be blocking us from attaining the “things” we think we need anger can arise. Anger and fear are tied together. Yet, fear is the culprit. Fear looms in us Americans largely due to economic need. Rage is closely tied to it. Poetry is a method of meditation or prayer. Poetry is one way to overcome such fear. It is necessary to write to offset the fear possibly. The act of writing, meditating, doing and not doing are on my mind. There is something good too in not doing, not thinking. Such things are difficult and good. I’m off to do a lot of stuff today again. What is lost is not the end of creating, but it is possibly the beginning of it, and such letting go is and can be freeing, but the fear is deep within us. Eventually we re-assess what is important. As J says, the one thing you can be certain of is change. How we perceive change matters.

Fear can be felt in the body. Breathing is a good thing and it does work, but one must be constantly attentive and this is difficult where everything around us says one must own, conquer, defend and hold on to things. I am thinking we must let go of such things despite the fear that rises up within the body. And I do think it is good to remember that everything changes, everything is impermanent, transient, fleeting. This doesn't mean that we are purposeless drifters at the mercy of the greedy. I am hoping to remember this today and let go of my own fears for today, for now.