Managing emotions was one of the themes of my life. A typical example is the fear of change. Despite our desire to change, it hinders us.
Fortunately, I have recently realized that rationality calms our emotions. That experience told me that being aware of our ignorance turns fear into curiosity.
However, I could not describe it in words.
These days, I have finally become able to explain them. This perspective might reduce your fear.
The meaning of focusing on ignorance
If you want to change, focus on your ignorance rather than fear.
A broader, historical perspective allows you to realize your ignorance.
An example would make it easier to understand, so let’s look at one.
Recently, I moved to Yanai City, where my parents live. Last week, I finally got my bicycle and could start exploring this city.
I looked at the city’s map and realized there are many unfamiliar areas. I wanted to visit every main place at least once. There must be roads and places with a beautiful view. That motivated me to explore the city with my bicycle. There was no fear but curiosity.
Our curiosity is like this process. We have curiosity within the realm we can perceive. We recognize the city area we live in, and we realize that there are unknown territories. We don’t fear. This is because we can suppose that there are the same laws of governance as long as it is inside the city. The blind spots—the unknown spots within the known area—pique our interest.
On the other hand, we feel fear outside the realm we know. If we have never left the city and are unfamiliar with other cities, moving outside will be intimidating. The environment where our current laws don’t apply scares us.
Seeing from a broader, historical perspective
That teaches us how to turn our fear into curiosity: a broader, historical perspective makes us recognize the unknowns as blind spots. That turns fear into interest.
We can widen the area we perceive. Instead of the city area, we can view our lives from the perspective of the country and the planet level. In addition, we can recognize them historically. That transforms our fear of the unknown into curiosity as long as they are on the planet and in historical cycles.
For example, even the recent climate change is natural from a historical perspective. We don’t need to fear. It is just a blind spot. We already know the impact of historical Earth fluctuations. That allows us to adapt to the new era.
In my case, I realized I had been obsessed with creating passive income for a long time. This was because I desired relaxation and feared being more stressed. I believed active income would stress me and passive income would free me from strain.
However, I noticed that active income and passive income were inseparable. We have to work actively to make passive income. We have to wait efficiently to be more active. Investment is associated with physical work, and vice versa.
Rationality told me that balancing them is more efficient than sticking to creating passive income. That made me decide to experience non-digital creation and active income, such as sewing bags and clothes.
Rationality gave me a wider perspective and corrected my misunderstandings. In other words, making active income is one of my blind spots.
That eliminated my fear and gave me curiosity toward things I had long avoided.
Conclusion
That is how we transform fear into curiosity.
A broader, historical perspective allows us to realize our blind spot, and that interests us.
This perspective might reduce your fear and allow you to enjoy the unknown.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
