And Robert, thanks for the Dune quote. I can really use that.

Fear can keep us safe, but robs us of volition. Like a mugger (an urban predator), it takes what’s precious to us and leaves us weak and violated.

When I get myself all freaked out, I often think of the Litany Against Fear in Frank Herbert’s Dune:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litany_against_fear

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

Speaking of bears and fears, I wish bears would feel more of it. We’ve got a couple walking around our very busy suburb, snacking on bird feeders and garbage. Go back to the wild, bears, before someone has to do something mortal to you!

Great post, Barbara.

As far as the bears go, good luck. I almost hope you see one and have a completely innocuous experience; but then again, what would you do if you DID see one? My sister, who is so like you, Barbara, used to sleep on the deck when bears were in our area–but only after baiting it with berries and peanut butter. Sometimes she’d wake to find the food gone. She never did see a bear. :-)

Before I even knew who Philip K. Dick was, I was a fan. I grew up with movies like Blade Runner, and Total Recall. A few years ago I made a point to try and read P.K.D.’s entire body of work. There is something so oddly familiar to me about his stories and their presentation, and it would probably disturb others to know this;

It is because I have PKD-like dreams almost every single night. There is always someone chasing me, after me, or out to get me. I’m never safe. I don’t know who I can trust, or where I can go. I am always running — ESCAPING from certain death and conspiracy in my dreams.

To others these would be nightmares. To me they are only dreams because they occur so often, and have since I was a kid. They’re merely nighttime entertainment to me.

Does that mean I’m having fun in the dream? No! Absolutely not. I’m more often than not paranoid and panicked in my dreams. And yet, I still do not consider them nightmares, because I always find a way out — a way to escape. Which for many is the entire purpose of entertainment.

Fear can be a huge source of inspiration if you collect all the things you are fearful of into a Fear Bucket and find ways to weave them into your stories.