Fears keep us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones. ― Thích Nhất Hạnh, Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm
I just finished reading a guest essay by Amanda Gorman in the New York Times: “Why I Almost Didn’t Read My Poem at the Inauguration.” She feared failing her people, contracting Covid, and of being highly visible which, she says “is a very dangerous thing to be in America, especially if you’re Black and outspoken and have no Secret Service.”
As I read her essay I thought of the many fears healthcare workers must have these days being on the “front lines.” Perhaps there are fears of getting infected, of abuse by patients or their families, of burnout, or for their loved ones who may be getting little of their attention these days.
What are your fears? Name them, write them down, “own” them, so to speak. Only then can your fears and anxieties find release. Ms. Gorman says, “The only thing we have to fear is having no fear—having no feeling on behalf of whom and what we’ve lost, whom and what we love.”
I am encouraged and feel hopeful to hear this 23-year-old-poet carrying on in the tradition of the great philosopher and Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, who died last month at the age of 95. They remind us first and foremost to acknowledge our fears rather than deny them, and then to direct our attention to the here and now, including the wonders within and around us.
Blessings in your important front-line work!
Rebecca Hauder BSN, M.Ed.