Intimacy with fear
"Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth." - Pema Chodron Sometime last year I was in a book store in need of a book. Nothing in particular, but just in "need" of something, which usually leads me to the Buddhism section when I'm unsure of what I want but feeling as though I "need" something. That day I picked up Pema Chodron's "When Things Fall Apart", and it wasn't until a couple of days ago that I finally started reading it. "Heart Advice For Difficult Times" it says on the front cover -- this purchase happened before any of the deaths that would come in the year -- and sat on my bookshelf, collecting dust, but patiently waiting until I recognized the need to pick it up and read it. It has become, mostly, nighttime reading before falling asleep. It goes against my general principle of reading anything too "heavy" before sleeping, yet I felt something significant about carrying these wor