The Fear of the Unknown

           Let me begin by sharing an experience of a person I met in my counselor setting. Let us call her Romina; she was in her mid-thirties. Romina shared with me that she often saw a dark and vague figure in her dreams. The figure would try to come close to her and she would scream and wake up in fear and trembling. Her heartbeat would rise, and she would sweat and gasp for air. The figure kept appearing over many years. She was afraid of the unknown figure and wondered why that figure was troubling her. 

           She went through a therapeutic intervention in which she was guided to allow the figure to come close to her and to reveal himself and the purpose of his coming. Romina, with mixed feelings of fear and courage, allowed the figure to come closer to her. Gradually, she realized that the figure was her grandfather. She had a conversation with him, and he assured her that he was trying to come close to her, not to hurt her but to protect and support her. From that day on, she was not fearful and even found her dreams comforting. Romina experienced healing and growth because she embraced the unknown. 

           The human mind is often afraid of the new and the unknown. Howard Lovecraft, an American writer, says, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”[1] A sizeable number of individuals seem to fear to get closer to the unknown and instead, run from it. Often there is an assumption that the unknown is bad, dangerous, and even evil. This is a baseless assumption. People often get hurt by the known rather than the unknown — just think of your recent hurt. Embracing the unknown is the way to growth, learning, and rich discoveries. 

Next time, try talking to an unknown person or doing something new, you might be pleasantly surprised by what you find. 

           

             

John Baptist OFM Cap. | Pastoral Clinical Counselor | Pennsylvania, USA

 

            

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[1] Howard Lovecraft in Oxford Essential Quotations, (4 ed.), 2016.