Fear .  It’s gripped all of us at one time or another.   Whether it’s a fear of heights, spiders or any number of other tangible things we are all afraid of something.   Reluctantly we’ll admit to these things because we know that the person we are admitting it to has a similar fear of their own.   If your afraid of spiders, having the person who isn’t afraid of spiders tell you it’s in your head, it’s irrational and to get over it is not helpful.  Of course that person is deathly afraid of heights and will not go anywhere near a window over 5ft off the ground.   To you, this is irrational and in their head because you jump out of perfectly good airplanes.

We all have our fears.  Some of us confront them straight on in the hope of taming them so that we can live our life without this gripping fear that prevents us from living life to the fullest.  Some of us simply learn to work around them.  We make do with what we’ve got.

What about those intangible fears though?  The ones that you can’t point to and say, “see I’m terrified of that”.   These are the most crippling emotions.  These are the ones we won’t admit to.   Admitting to them strips a layer of shadow and wall from us and lets the world see inside us.   At least a small piece.  It also makes us vulnerable.  Vulnerable to anyone who wants to take advantage of us.  Admitting these fears gives them an open door.

Fear .  The new theme for the Gallery of Light.  I asked the artists to show me their fears.   I asked them to bare a little piece of their souls for us.  The meaning behind each photo is their own.  It is up to them to share or not that meaning.

My entry is attached to this post.  My fear:  Being alone.  As everyone who knows me knows, I am single in RL as well as SL.   This is my choice and most of the time I am happy with it.   As the holidays approach though it becomes more and more difficult to be completely happy not having anyone to share all of this with.   I have wonderful friends and a loving family but it’s not the same.   I’ve been single in SL now for the longest period of time since joining 2 years ago.   Quite frankly, I was thrilled to finally be single again.  I was finally able to do what I wanted, when I wanted and how I wanted.   With all of that comes Loneliness though.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to get married in SL again, I don’t even want to partner someone for romantic reasons again.  I do crave the companionship, the someone to cuddle with, share a funny moment or just talk to.   I love knowing someone is their waiting for me, waiting to share the latest news, a dance at the Crown and Pearl or just a cuddle on the couch and talk.  I will laugh it off with my friends saying that it doesn’t bother me, I’m happy as I am, I don’t need anyone but them but none of that is really true if I’m totally honest. 

So, I’ve bared my soul to all of you.   The pictures will go up this weekend, most likely sometime on Saturday.   Stop by the Gallery and take a look.  I think you’ll be impressed.

That’s the new theme for the Gallery of Light.   I asked each of the artists to show me/us what they are afraid of.

It’s funny, I can choose a theme but when it comes to creating a pic for it, I’m at a loss.   I certainly don’t have a lack of fears.  If I think about them too hard and for too long it almost seems I’m afraid of everything.  

Fear of failure:   No one wants to be labeled a failure.  The fear of failure keeps us from taking risks.   When bought Angel Square I was terrified.  Now it’s had it’s ups and downs and I’d like to see some changes made but for the most part, it’s a risk I’m glad I took.

Fear of being alone:   Not everyone is afraid to be alone.   Some people revel in it others simply prefer a solitary existence.  For those though that need the constant contact of other human beings, being alone can be terrifying.

Being Invisible:   No one wants to be invisible all the time.  Yes sometimes we want to hide from everyone but most of the time we want to be seen and acknowledged.  

Rejection :  Who hasn’t felt the bite of rejection at one point in their life?   Whether from a lover, friend or in business no one likes to hear, *I/we don’t want you*.

Disappointment :  If you’ve ever heard *I’m so disappointed in you* from someone you love, trust or respect then I don’t need to say anything else.   If you’ve never heard these words, then count your blessings because there is no more hollow feeling in the world.

There are countless phobias and other fears that I could go into.   I chose to talk about these because all were concepts I’d considered doing for my entry in the Gallery of Light.   What struck me though is how can I continue to be afraid of something I’ve actually experienced?  

I’ve failed at so many things it doesn’t scare me anymore.   It only makes me angry. 

I am alone and while I don’t always like it, it is my choice.   I prefer my own company as opposed to some of the offers I’ve had recently(this is a whole post itself lol).  

Am I invisible?  Hope not.  I post pictures to Flickr and I know they’ve been seen whether or not anyone comments.  

I’ve been rejected just like anyone else.  It’s not fun and certainly doesn’t feel good.   But not everyone is perfect.   We can’t all be the best at everything, someone will always be better.  

I’ve disappointed my fair share of people and feel the regret to this day.   It’s certainly not something I’m proud of and I’m careful to not do anything to warrant it again.   I’m not afraid of it happening again, I simply won’t allow it to.

So that brings me to what I will do for my entry and you are just going to have to wait…