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I've been taken a closer look at fear recently. I feel like fear is a special emotion. It's kind of like the Parmiggiano of emotions—you know, in the same way that Parmiggiano is the king of cheese.

Sorry to be a bummer, but it's a really important topic, and it's the key to freedom and joy and unlocking everything you have inside of you.

Underneath almost everything we do that's not really supporting our highest good is fear, and every fear can be traced back to the fear of death.

But there's a really interesting related fear that I've been getting real intimate with, and it's the fear of not being supported.

When we're newly born, we instinctively know that we're completely dependent on being spported by our moms. If she doesn't feed us, doesn't make sure we're safe, that we get sleep, that we get soothed, that we're loved and touched, then we're screwed. That's it. We're completely dependent.

Hopefully she did a good job with this, but the fear lies so deep within us. I'm dependent on love and support to survive.

If we're not aware, though, we'll carry this fear with us for the rest of lives. We'll want our boss or our lover or our friends or someone else to soothe that fear, to make us feel safe and supported. We'll have a relationship with the world where we're always afraid something bad is going to happen. we start each morning at the bottom of the hill and we have to fight our way up just to survive. This is how I've lived most of my life, until one day I was ready to let go of that pattern.

I remember reading about Adele when she came out with her latest album. She expressed this very fear, that people had forgotten about her, didn't care, weren't interested anymore. It's that fear. The fear that she won't be supported by her audience, or the world, or even the universe, for being who she is. We all know her fear was unfounded, and she went on to release the biggest album in 15 years. But the fear is stil very real. And universal.

Several years I read this passage in Autobiography of a Yogi, and it spoke to me at such a deep level. Here it is:

"Swamiki, I am puzzled. Following your instruction, suppose I never asked for food, and nobody gives me any. I should starve to death."

"Die then!" This alarming counsel split the air. "Die if you must Mukunda! Never admit that you live by the power of food and not by the power of God! He who has created every form of nourishment, He who has bestowed appetite, will certainly see that His devotee is sustained! Do not imagine that rice mantains you, or that money or men support you! Could they aid if the Lord withdraws your life-breath? They are His indirect instruments merely. Is it by any skill of yours that food digests in your stomach? Use the sword of your discrimination, Mukunda! Cut through the chains of agency and perceive the Single Cause!"

Can you find that place inside of you that feels the love that you are, and that the Universe is, that feels your oneness with all that is, and thus knows in your heart af hearts that you truly are supported and nutured by love, by God, by truth, by Life, or whatever you choose to call it?

That's where freedom lies.

Ahh. Take a deep breath and feel that.

New Features in Simplero

Still working on bigger things. Mostly bug fixes and small tweaks, as per usual.

Random Links from around the Interwebs

Hacker flips the table on wire transfer scammers and takes them down. 

The thrill of losing money by investing in a Manhattan restaurant.

The evolution of the James Bond logo.

Stay supported!
–Calvin