STEPPING UP TO THE ABYSS

What is fear?

Webster tags it as "A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined..."

My favorite acronym is F.E.A.R. - standing for "False Expectations Appearing Real."

Because very, VERY few of our fears are "real" because usually the threat is only in our minds.

We are scared because of something the could happen - we are afraid of what people might think - we fear possibilities, not realities.



I, however, do have one very legitimate fear.

It's being injured by a 1,200 lb. animal.

I have been hurt before, by this particular animal and other horses in general. I've been thrown, stomped on, knocked over, bitten, kicked and head-butted. I've had stitches, extended hospital stays, lots of bruises, and more than my share of pain and achiness (did I just invent that word?).

So just a smidgen of my fear may feel legitimate.

But I also know horses very well - in particular the one I own myself - and am fairly confident of my ability to boss them around and AVOID the aforementioned injuries.

So today, fighting some of these aforementioned emotions, I took this one animal and spent some time working with him alone in a separate location.

And wasn't hurt in the slightest.

PREACHING AGAINST PINTEREST

My oldest daughter has introduced me to an awful lot of good things in my life.




The Office. The Dave Matthews Band. Cinnamon Twists at Taco Bell. 36" inseams. Three inch heels even when you are over 5'9". Pandora radio. Downton Abbey.






And Sherlock, the BBC series.

Which is a convenient segue to the title subject.



Harmony also had told me about Pinterest, describing it as a series of pinboards to share and save things you liked.

She forgot to mention that it is also a pathway to outer darkness and loss of your soul.

It begins innocently enough, with putting funny names on your boards, and finding neat quotes and thoughts that you'd like to share.

But then slowly and surely it begins to suck you in.

You begin checking your boards at odd times during the day to see if anyone has pinned anything off of your stuff.

Then you start exploring other people's boards, and pinning stuff off of their boards, and seeing where they had gotten it, and then what else is there.












And by then 85% of your waking hours is spent searching and putting gorgeous photos of Benedict Cumberbatch all over the Internet.





I guess there are worse things to spend your time, but I am beginning to see that Pinterest is to women what pornography is to men.