✴ Fear: The Elegant Custodian of Our Inner Stage
I had a dream recently where someone — a hater — defecated on a runway just before a fashion show. It was grotesque, deliberate, attention-seeking. But before the models could walk, a beautiful, poised woman in a muted green sequin dress stepped forward, laid her shawl gently over the mess, and removed it without drama. She didn’t stay for praise or explanation. She simply cleaned the space and exited.
This dream wasn’t about the hater. It was about fear — and the grace that can meet it.
🧠 The Neurochemistry of Fear
Fear isn't a moral failure or a sign of weakness. It’s chemical information delivered via:
Adrenaline (to get you moving)
Cortisol (to extend your alertness)
Norepinephrine (to heighten focus and readiness)
Together, these signals prepare you to run, freeze, hide, or fawn. That’s why you might feel:
A racing heart
A hollow belly
Sweaty palms
Tunnel vision
Shakiness
Or in my case: a shutdown so total it feels like your soul fled the room
It’s not just “in your head.” It’s in your blood, your fascia, your breath, your throat. It’s real.
🌫 Fear and Behavior: What We Do When We Feel It
We don’t always recognize our behaviors as fear responses. We might:
Become perfectionists to avoid failure
Withdraw emotionally to avoid rejection
Get angry instead of being vulnerable
Become overly compliant to avoid conflict
Fear wears many masks. And like that dream, sometimes it shits on your stage right before your moment.
🧬 Metaphor as Messenger
In dreams, our nervous system tells stories through symbols.
The stage? Your next level.
The hater? A fear-based pattern — self-doubt, trauma memory, social shame.
The poop? The shame/fear dumped right where your beauty should shine.
The green sequinned woman? Your inner grace. The aspect of you who doesn’t need a fight, just a shawl. Who clears the stage and moves on quietly.
Metaphors are more than art — they are the subconscious rendering the unspeakable into something visible. Something we can touch.
👁 Recognising Fear in the Body
The body always speaks first. The trick is learning to hear before the panic becomes a roar.
Ask yourself:
Is this sensation tightness or expansion?
Is my breath fast, shallow, or held?
Where is the tension? Belly? Chest? Jaw?
What does this remind me of — a time, a tone, a face?
Fear often rides in with a past rider. And that past wants to keep you safe… even if the threat is no longer real.
✴ The Choice
The dream offered a choice:
You can stand frozen staring at the mess…
Or you can embody the green woman.
Recognize the disruption.
Handle it with elegance.
Clear the space.
Leave before the audience even knows there was a threat.
Let fear inform you — but not rule you.
Let the body speak — but don’t let it silence your song.
Let the metaphor open the truth — but know that you are the stage.
And you’re already walking it.
