On Fear

I have been reading a book titled On Fear and it explains how, through years of conditioning, human beings, even and especially ones closest to us, can be very unwilling to be open and vulnerable.  I think a lot of it has to do with insecurity, which likely lies in our subconscious minds.  This insecurity leads to attempts to escape reality by keeping the uncomfortable reasons for the insecurity at a distance.  How do people escape?  This book lists drugs, excessive consumerism, religious fanaticism, overeating, hostility, etc. But you can add so much more.  In my family, you could add overindulgence on sports and the deployment of artful passive aggression.  Life is a bit less complicated, at least in the short-term, when things are pushed away.   - from a 2004 email I sent to a relative

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