Growth, Tension, & Fear

[Fear - VIII]

All growth requires tension. Some resistance. A little struggle.

Tension and fear are not the same, though they can present themselves that way. Their insides are different. Fear leverages power, threatens, and gives ultimatums. Tension doesn’t threaten at all, but it always presents a cost. Usually emotional.

Consider learning.

To learn a body of work or a specific subject is hard. It requires time, energy, and commitment. New ideas, especially one that challenges an old one, require a lot of tension. There’s outer tension: scheduling conflicts, time management, and competing interests. There’s inner tension, too: commitment challenges, holding conflicting information, and revealing of bias and ignorance.

Now, consider learning a body of work, but in a classroom. Not only is the tension of learning there, the fear of classroom management, teacher expectations, school policies, and the threat of social shaming are all involved. “If you don’t sit still, I’ll send you to principal’s office.” “Turn in all your homework, or your grade will suffer.”

Learning requires tension. Because it's tough.
Compliance, not learning, requires fear.

Often we confuse the two.
And we don’t grow.

[h/t Seth]