Courage & Fear

Fear isn't the enemy of your practice. Half the time it is your practice, standing at the door of the thing you most need to do.

The useful question is never 'how do I stop being afraid' but 'which fear is this'. Some fear is information about genuine danger, and most is simply the sensation of leaving the familiar. They feel identical; they require opposite responses.

Moving with the fear rather than waiting for it to leave.

Dressing avoidance up as timing, or recklessness up as bravery.

• Name the fear precisely — one sentence, no poetry.

• Ask whether it protects you from danger or from growth.

• Take the smallest brave step at the First Quarter moon.

• What would I do this month if I trusted myself?

• What is the fear actually saying?

• What has fear already cost me?

Tiger's Eye, Carnelian and Garnet; Ginger and Thyme; Strength and the Knight of Wands; the Confidence Ritual.