A Conversation with Fear

De: Mermer Blakeslee

Narrado por: Lory Reyes

“We all pack different ideas and feelings into the word fear: fear of the unknown, fear of failure, of losing control, of aging, of falling down, fear of the body reacting and fear of the body not reacting, even the fear of saying the word fear. This audiobook does not attempt to define fear or explain why a frightened person experiences certain physiological responses. It doesn’t separate students into categories or classify symptoms.

"What this book does attempt is to offer you both audacity and comfort. Although comfort feels quiet, it arrives through a bold move: accepting the presence of fear. To do this, we must pick our way between two powerful tendencies, to control and to cure, the Scylla and Charybdis of our culture. These tendencies show themselves constantly in words like manage, handle, overcome, conquer, dispel, banish, fix.… By regarding fear as a pathology to control or cure, we assume that life without its presence is possible, normal, or even desirable. But once we accept fear as a habitual acquaintance in an imaginative, meaningful life, we can begin to cultivate a conversation with it rather than engage it in a fight.”

©2010 Mermer Blakeslee (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Great for teacher an student alike

I am a ski instructor and coach in the Midwest. The author's experience in the ski world was familar to me, but I believe this book is great for anyone trying to understand their own or someone else's struggle with fear. The author offers concrete examples and some strategies to help deal with and move through those moments in our lives. I really liked the almost anti-coaching philosophy to not try "control" fear, but work with it and understand and use it to keep moving forward in tge monent and life.

Really interesting; reader is stiff

As a certified PSIA ski instructor I could relate to many of the situations in the book. I loved the writing and insightful information. I was disappointed by the reading as it always reminded me, with its halting speech and intricately-pronounced words, that I was listening to a book, thus preventing me from fully being absorbed in the story. It would have been great if the reader relaxed and spoke in her normal cadence instead. I imagine she does not speed to others like this.