Fear is Passion without Breath

To fear is one thing.  To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.  ~Katherine Paterson, Jacob Have I Loved

“Fear is Passion without Breath.”
I first heard this phrase spoken by a woman in my writing class. That was a Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday evening, while reading a book about living life fully, there it was again in bold print at the top of the page, “Fear is Passion without Breath.” It was a “stopper” the first time I heard it.  Stumbling upon it yet a second time in the same day, it really got my attention.
I sat with that phrase for about a week. Each time I repeated it, it held my attention completely. My mind stilled. It was such a simple yet profound statement. If it’s true and all we need to do is breathe through our fear to experience passion, imagine how easy it would be to turn up the volume on our lives.
I’m just going to assume this phrase is not talking about the kind of precautions that prevent us from putting our hands in the fire or walking in front of cars on the highway. But instead, is referring to the fear that prevents us from doing things that enrich our lives and have us glad for the experience.
So taking this phrase literally, how could we begin to breathe through our fears to experience more passion? First, we might think of a fear we’d like to transform and then be aware of our breath when we even think of moving beyond it. Do we stop breathing? Does our body contract making it hard to breath? Do we breath very shallowly? What physiological things happen to us that stops us from going forward? We can get help as many of us do, but if we want to move from fear to passion, it still takes our desire to transform our fear and the awareness of how we allow it to stop us. If we just except all our fears and do nothing about them, that’s fine. But if we want to move beyond them, self-inquiry is a great tool.
Before I moved to Maui, even though I loved the beach and the water, I was afraid to go beyond the shore break. My best friend and her husband lived on the island and I visited at least once a year. I’d see them go for long swims, go snorkeling, and there I was, dousing myself with the kids in the shallows of the ocean getting hit by the break. My mind brainwashed me into thinking that if I went out beyond the break, bigger waves would crash on me and I wouldn’t be able to get back to shore without being plummeted. My fear setup unmovable boundaries for me. The very thought of going out “there” made my body tighten. Did I also stop breathing? Probably. Try tightening your entire body and see how easily, or not, you breathe.
Funny thing is, an experience I had in the water on one of my visits, once I allowed my desire to get bigger than my fear, is what got me here. After much patience, cajoling from my friends, and learning to relax in the water I finally did get beyond the break and the feeling of Mother Maui holding me as I lay back, made an indelible impression on me. I wanted more. Now, the ocean is truly a passion of mine.
In one of my past articles, I wrote about a client who had a fear of being published in a well-known business journal. She was sure she would flop if she put herself out to that extent. Truth is, nothing really materialized from that published article, but it took her to another level of going beyond her self-limiting thoughts/beliefs—fears. She is now giving talks to the very clients she was sure would find her a fraud. She is ecstatic and impassioned by her work.
Passion for anything, no matter what it is, makes us feel alive. We often don’t even know we are passionate about a particular line of work, sport, or self-expressing art until we’re doing it. If we stop ourselves from exploring something new because our minds discount it before we even give it a try, or for fear of failure, not being approved of, or even from the fear of being seen in our fullness, we’re limiting ourselves—we’re limiting our accessibility to passion.
What do you want badly enough to conquer that fear that holds you back? If you are feeling complacent and not happy about it, it might be time to do a little exploring. Since most fears are self imposed and only have reality in our minds, give your mind something else to do besides telling you, you can’t or you shouldn’t and take the small steps that open your mind and get you closer to your passion. And, in keeping with the theme of this article, pay attention to your breath. Our body and mind are inseparable and work best when they cooperate. Awareness of your breath takes you out of your limited mind and allows you to expand. When you expand, that expansion creates room. Fill that room with what impassions you.