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%FEAR OF X AMBIGUOUS MEANING OF THE PHRASE USED SEX+950902
%LIFE DEATH REJECTION JUDGEMENT SUCCESS FAILURE JOY+950902
   %LOVE INTIMACY VULNERABILITY INSECURITY MISTAKES+950902
%ACCEPTANCE FORGIVENESS COMMUNITY INTEGRITY FEMALES 950902

     We  will do well to consider the  ambiguous  meanings
which we may attach to phrases of the form:

                FEAR OF  "X"

where a word is put in the place of "X";  e.g., words such
as the following:

     LIFE       DEATH      REJECTION      JUDGEMENT

     SUCCESS    FAILURE    MISTAKES       REVELATION

     APOLOGY    LEARNING   FORGETTING     RECONCILIATION

     PHYSICS    SCIENCE    MATHEMATICS    SCIENTISTS

     DESIRES    SEX        SEXUALITY      INTERCOURSE

     TALKING    DIALOGUE   CONVERSATION   INTIMACY

     EXPOSURE   NAKEDNESS  VULNERABILITY  INSECURITY

     PICTURES   VISIONS    MASTURBATION   PORNOGRAPHY

     DREAMS     IMAGES     FLIRTATION     PROSTITUTION

     CLARITY    CONFUSION  REPRESSIONS    FORGETFULNESS

     HOLY       SACRED     MYSTERY        GOD

     MALES      FEMALES    CHILDREN       GROWING

     BIRTH      YOUTH      MATURITY       SENILITY

     DISCOVERY  NEWNESS    RENEWAL        CHANGE

     Of  course  other words might be added  to  point  to
other  foci  pertaining to at least two ways in which each
phrase of the above form may be used and/or understood.

     The phrase  "fear of x" may point to "something which
is  feared"   or to "a source of a particular  occasion of
fear".

     "Fear  of  mathematics"  is usually used to point  to
fear  in which mathematics is what is apparently  what  is
feared.

     "Fear of females" may be used to point to the kind of
fear that insecure males have of females; i.e., fear where
males  fear females.   It may also be use to point to  the
kind of fear that abused females have of macho males; i.e,
the fear where females fear males.

"Fear of abuse"  may be used to point to the kind of
fear  where  a female fears being abused by a macho  male.
But  "fear of abuse"  may also be used to point to all the
kinds of fear which grow out of  females'  experiences  of
abuse at the hands of macho males.   In the latter case it
is  not abuse which is being pointed to as being  what  is
feared;   it is all the fears which grow out of abuse that
are being pointed to.   Abused females are fear-full; full
of  fear  which  has  been engendered  by  abuse.    In  a
paradoxical  way  their focus may  not be upon  the  abuse
which  engenders all of their fears.   Females may  "love"
their  macho  abusers and cling to their  abusers as being
essential to their being who they are---which may be true,
but only in a tragic way.

     Other analyses of the above  kind may be developed by
considering  the  possible  implications  of  the  use  of
phrases of the form:  "Fear  of X"  with each of the words
in the  above  list is substituted in place of "X"  in the
phrase.

     We  may be driven and guided by our fears.   In  many
situations we  may be wise to understand our fear of fear;
i.e. we may do well to recognize both:

     1.  Where and when it is wise to fear fear, and

     2.  The origins of many of our various kinds of fear.

     We need  to recognize WHICH of our FEARS PROMPT us to
feel, think, decide, and behave in ways which promote both
personal and communal INTEGRITY.

     We also  need to recognize WHICH of  our FEARS PROMPT
us  to  feel,  think,  decide,  and behave in  ways  which
promote both personal and communal DISINTEGRATION.

     Then  we  need to RECOGNIZE THE ORIGINS of our  FEARS
which PROMPT us to feel, think, decide, and behave in ways
which promote both personal and communal INTEGRITY.

     Finally,   we  need to RECOGNIZE THE ORIGINS  of  our
FEARS which PROMPT us to feel,  think, decide,  and behave
in   ways  which  promote  both  personal   and   communal
DISINTEGRATION---and SEEK TO TRANSCEND THOSE ORIGINS.

     We  need to transcend confusion about the natures  of
and  origins  of  our disintegrative  fears  (and  of  our
integrative fears)  in order to deal wisely with our fears
of all kinds and origins.

     For  us  to grow in wisdom we need to  transcend  our
fears  of discovery;  discovery by others of: who we truly
are, what our experiences have been, what our desires are,
what our fears are.

     Also  we  need to transcend our fears  of  discovery:
discovery  by  self of who others truly are,   that  their
experiences have been, what their desires are,  what their
fears are.

     We  also  need to transcend our fears of  discoveries
of: new truths, possibilities,  relationships,  mysteries,
values, ideals, and the renewal of the power of Love.

                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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