Fears

There was this big black spider walking around on the floor and one of the babies found it first. While everybody else was breathing hard and fussing about it, I took it outside and let it go. "Spiders are our friends," I said. "They eat the things that are actually dangerous to us. And that was not a poisonous spider."

I know because we have only a limited number of poisonous spiders in our area and they're distinctive.

Anyway, the conversation tjurned to things people are afraid of. I'm not afraid of any of the things the others mentioned. Not spiders, not snakes. Not even scorpions, though I would be cautious around them or in their habitat.

What am I afraid of?

Telephones. Mail. Asking for things. Finishing things. Making decisions.

I wonder if people being afraid of weird little things, like spiders and stuff, allows people to avoid the kinds of fears that actually make a person dysfunctional?