The title gives it away we’re having a talk about fears and anxiety. Now before we dive in, I want to make it perfectly clear that this is not a post bashing, negating or making fun of people with fears and anxiety. I believe suffering from anxiety is real as I, myself, have suffered and sometimes still suffer from anxiety. It’s just that I have had a conversation with a person who spoke about self-manifested fears and anxiety and that has gotten stuck in my mind. Especially when looking back on my life, some things have been highlighted which I thought I’d share and see what you all think of it. This section is called wonder about it and that is exactly the intent of this and all other posts (read more here) in this section. Also writing helps me clear my head so there’s that.
The main reason why the phrase ‘’fears and anxiety could be self-manifested’’ got stuck in my mind is because the person I was speaking to is a fellow traveler and had noticed that when traveling all the feelings and worries attached to the anxiety(-ies) started staying away. Or better said disappear. This is something that I, myself, have noticed. In the times when I was plagued by hives (no pun intended but you can laugh I did too while editing!) I took a trip to Manchester and came back without my hives. Well in comparison to how I left. Even the days after I felt very calm and serene. Which I do after every trip. The effect actually starts way earlier from the moment I get to the airport. Now it’s easy to say that any one would get happy when going on vacation, which is true however the airport process should trigger all my anxiety because of having to know where my things are. Planning, making sure I am on time, being at the right gate, all things that stress me out because being shot out of a cannon to my destination is not possible.
This brings me to the lifestyle that we lead. In the western world we live quite high pressure lives. There’s a lot that is expected of us no matter what field you’re in or your age. Babies excluded of course. We’re also called the human race, at some point our lives have actually literally become a human race (read more about living a human race here). Constantly busy doing the most in whatever way that applies to our respective lives. Best believe I too was guilty of that. I still am in some ways, university for example, but I managed to scale down and with that my anxiety has gone down as well. Another sign of the influence of our lifestyle on our fears and anxieties. I wonder could it be that our human race lifestyle is creating the fears and anxiety?
Scarier thought; are we as a society manifesting the fears and anxiety by constantly wanting more and better? Never truly satisfied with what we have? I have to say that there is a difference between always chasing the next best thing and tweaking/improving what already exists. Both of them have their healthy and unhealthy parts even though the former can turn and has a more unhealthy connotation. That aside, the fact that lifestyle changes are among the advises given when trying to get a hold on fears and anxiety does better the case that we, ourselves, through our lifestyles are self-manifesting our fears and anxiety.
Lastly when thinking about lifestyle and fears and anxiety I couldn’t help but think about the things we value. The things we find important. Value more in the direction of social media and the comparisons that happen no matter how hard we fight it. The awful questions that sometimes pass the revue. Things have even gotten so bad that there is now such a thing as social media rehab. I’m not kidding, it’s a real thing just google it. In the same breath but also on the other hand, what does this say about the things that we find important? Fitting in? Having the things displayed/promoted? Leading a Kardashian life? Value and importance can also go in the more general direction.
When editing this post the following thought crossed my mind, which takes things on a completely different road. I couldn’t help but wonder about our intuition and metaphysics? We’re living in a society were being a rational reasoning human being is the norm. Gut feelings and intuition is mostly brushed off as a part of guessing instead listening to your most inner self. Now could it be that continually overriding our intuition with reason our intuition is rebelling in form of fears and anxiety? I do wonder what then happens with the biological part of anxiety, but then again intuition doesn’t only display itself on cognitive levels. When thinking about moments where my life was disrupted, either in form of travels or just utter chaos, and I could only trust on what I felt, I was nervous but not anxiety nervous, if that makes any sense?
I lean towards believing that there is truth beneath the phrase self-manifested fears and anxiety. What do you think?
Love,
DCPR.
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