The Known Unknown

[Where I See Fear – III]

It’s not the unknown that we fear. (If it’s truly unknown, then we don’t know that we don’t know it.)

It’s not the known that we fear. (If we know it, it’s usually robbed of it’s intimidation.)

It’s the known unknown that we fear. (We know of it, but we don’t know it enough to disarm it.)

Either we push into it—discovering all we can, understanding all we can—or we retreat and we remain in the unknown. The first might result in more fear at first, but familiarity and insight will win out in the end. The second embeds the fear permanently.

If it makes you uncomfortable, dismissive, resistant, or angry, there may be fear at its core. You know enough to be scared, but not enough to be empowered. Don’t dismiss it outright. Instead, explore.

This goes for monsters and opposing ideologies.
Spiders and alternative opinions.
Heights and strangers.