Fear

Although I practiced law for many years, I was never a criminal lawyer. (I know, you think all lawyers are criminals. Ha, ha.) So I have little experience of prisons. The brick and mortar kind, that is.

I have plenty of experience of fear, however. It was only when I was able, with the help of others, to face my fears and name them that the walls disappeared and I discovered that I had been living surrounded by beauty within and without all this time.

It saddens me to see how our American society has become fear-driven: fear of foreigners, fear of immigrants, fear of science, fear of education, fear of gays, fear of Christians, fear of Democrats, fear of Republicans. The walls are in our heads, not around our bodies. We are immersed in beauty like fish in the sea, could we but see it.

It also saddens me to realize how much of our fear is the direct result of fear-mongering on the part of those who make money from frightening us.

So very sad.