CANADA

My fears come in waves. As a mother there have been many times when I have not felt loved or wanted by my children. It is after I clearly express my feelings about how our relationship has caused me to feel ignored, feel invisible, feel that I am someone they really would rather not acknowledge. I believe in loving and have tried to show them how much I do, I have told them. I am not strong in this place. I want to run away. I fear growing older alone and isolated. I fear rejection the most. I see, when I am most loving, how my thoughts can do me in yet I keep coming back to these fears. There are likely more fears that I have these are the ones that exhaust, isolate, suffocate.
--rjspero@voyageur.ca, Female, Canada

My greatest fear is of myself, of my mind. What it can do, how it will do, and that it will suck me into itself until I am insane.
--aerebb@hotmail.com, Female, Canada

My biggest fear is going to the Doctors. I am literally terrified and I know I should go for a physical as it has been a long time since I last had one. I am petrified of the fact that he may find something wrong with me and I get myself into such a state that I sometimes make myself ill and also suffer with panic attacks. i think I need to speak to someone who can get me in the right frame of mind to go and see a Doctor but just the very thought makes me feel awful. We have suffered a loss in the family recently, my brothers wife from cancer and last year a friend of mine her sister died from cancer too. I am petrified that they will find something wrong with me and also I feel very selfish for feeling this way. Can you please help or advise me. I am 49 years old and have 4 children.
--Sylvia, Female, Canada

I fear that my life will account to nothing. I come from a prosperous family, and I've been given so many opportunities. I work hard, yet I always feel like I lack something. Like no matter how hard I work, I will never reach the intelligence and success I crave. It's like running down a tunnel, and the light at the other end never seems to get closer... it just stays the same.
--Zaheera, Female, Canada

There are so may things that I am afraid of. I may not seem like it though. If you were to ask any of my friends and family what i was afraid of i don't think they could answer you. I tend to cover up my feelings very well. I am somewhat proud of that. One thing that i am afraid of is myself. I don't understand the things i see in my dreams and the things that i see in my mind when i am awake. Most, if not all of my life doesn't make sense to me. i have has people tell me that i am afraid of being loved. that may be true i haven't decided yet on that. I tend to back away from relationships when i think they are getting serious. i don't relaize this until later when i've messed up. i'm only fourteen you'd think i wouldn't have to worry about serious relationships but i've had my fair share. My most recent boyfriend is really great. I like him a lot but i can't handle all the drugs he does. he's the same age as i am and i think he's done almost every drug i can think of. that scares me a lot. i couldn't bear to think about what could happen to him. My cousin does a lot of drugs too and i think i worry about her the most because i care about her so much. It scares me to think about the fact that my parents are making me move away from the people i care about. i've just finally started to 'fit in' and nnow i have to leave. I don't think i can do without James and Laura (my BF and cousin). I just found out that my ex boyfriend has lung cancer and i'm only one out of about five people that knows and he has sworn me to secrecy. He's sick yet he still smokes and refuses to tell his parents that he has cancer. (he's 18 so he doesn't HAVE to tell them) Out of all these things i think though that I am most scared of myself and my abilities. I don't think i can handle them. I always wonder what is going to happen to me if i kepp following my dreams and actually use my gifts and abilities. Being telepathic is really scary. That's what i'm most scared of. Myself.
--Maegon, Female, USA

There are two things that I fear the most. Failure is the first, it has paralyzed me, I cannot commit to anything while I have this fear. I go through life unable to choose a path for fear at failing as I travel it. I know in part that I can succeed at my task, but my fear of failure overrides the confidence I have in myself. And my second fear is loneliness, but as long as the first plagues me I am unwilling to do anything about the second, for I fear I will fail to love her properly.
Jamal, Male, Canada

I'm an immigrant living in Montreal, and I'm afraid of feeling as a stanger in my own country when I come back (witch I haven't already done...) I'm afraid of being inadequate in the town I was born, of the reactions of the people I love there in front of the way I've changed. I'm also afraid of the day I will feel Quebec is my country. I don't have any children, but... I'm afraid of having unhappy children living in a sad world. I'm afraid of taking the decision to have a child because of this. But I'm not afraid of being afraid !
--Amélie, Female, Canada

I am terrified of the idea that I am as ORDINARY and as BORISH as many of the people that roam this earth. I am afraid that I can never amount to anything but DIRT in this spec of the Universe. I fear my life as it is, more than death to take it away, for living is for the dead.
--Viris, Female, Canada

I'm afraid i won't find enough courage within myself to change the things about me which i know can be and need to be changed.
--Joy, Female, Canada

I am afraid that my time on this planet has been a waste of time. I look back at all the things I could have done, should have done, did and should not have done....and I now realize that now that I am 40 there is not enough time left to do the things I want.
--Bob, Male, Canada

For me, art is my life force in a sense. It is the meaning of my life personally. I have many little fears but the fear of loosing the ability to create art or the opportunity to show it is what I cannot stand. It would leave me helpless and lost. My mind is always full of artistic endevours, what would I fill it with if I lost that? If you want to know smaller fears they are blood, and pregnancy. I have had many nightmares of hemmoraging to death or being pregnant. I have much more if you are interested in hearing them just email me. I like this idea, compiling fears and such.
--Ang, Female, Canada

Never being succesful. working as something like a receptionist or office worker for the rest of my life. never realizing my artistic talent to the fullest.
--Heather, Female, Canada

As time goes on, I am beginning to understand the value of a youthful spirit. At this point in my life I still possess a sense of joy and play. I fear that as I become older I may lose this important part of me causing bitterness and resentfulness in my life. Also, I have no real fears regarding my own death but rather, the inevitable death of people close to me. (selfish reasons, I suppose)
--Adrianne, Female, Canada

I'm afraid of the inability to wake from a dream that I have frequently about accidentally killing people. My very real fear is that i will someday not be able to wake from this dream, and it will replace the reality of everyday life. This is my fear.
--Simon, Male, Canada

You know, fears are the only essence of what we are. You can't define you're own personality on what you love or think is beautiful... Most of the time, you like things which you were told to be good. The mass way of thinking as always influenced so much people that at one point there's only one kind of human left on this planet. That's my greatest fear anyway... I'm afraid that someday, I'll just be another pawn in the game... I'll be known as the girl out there, nothing more or less... I'm afraid to lose the real thing, myself, my fears!
--Sonia, Famle, Canada

The unknown
--Matt, Male, Canada

Fears? Nightmares? Fear of failure and fear of being judged by others as well as fear of rejection.
--Michele, Female, Canada

Hello, my name is Juliana. I am a young Canadian writer who has been playing with a fear plot for a long time. None of my teachers bought into it. I am afraid a perfectly good idea will go to waste. Perhaps my idea and your art ability should link. I am almost certain you can do it. Here is a brief part of the idea. If you are interested, please contact me on my email. If not, then the idea was not one to begin with anyway.I call this: The Dark Image She walked light footed, softly toe by toe, down the long braded carpet, carrying only a candle for light. Her feet were invisible through the darkness, as the door ahead. As her pale eyes searched the hall again, she came to a tall mirror, hung as a picture on the wall. The pane of glass scattered the light around the hall, and her delicate figure was opened as a story before her. Her high cheek bones, and wide eyes made her more beautiful than any other, she knew. Smiling to herself, she was suddenly directed to a tiny scar upon her forehead. Shocked by the sudden marking, the candle fell from her tired wrist, and the flame vanished as it hit the floor. As her hands stroked over the cold floor for the candle, it was instantly relight and brought magically to her finger tips. In panic, she denied the wax lantern, though her hand slid silently into place. Rising, she looked into the mirror again to a scarred and broken face, that was not her own. The girl in the image laughed, and her lips were forced to do the same. When she tried to scream, her lips plastered still in a smile. For though the beauty she had raised on the outside was well cared for and presented, her inner self became scarred and ugly. Now, everyone could see what she saw in the mirror, and it was too late to change the dark image.
--Juliana, Female, Canada

I am afraid of losing my child and my lover, the father of my child.
--Sylvie, Female, Canada

My biggest fear is to be reject. I would like to be like they others and mAke no errors. Be the one that everybody love all the time. Dream, just a dream. And with this fear I can do nothing, I act like I can. But I know that I can be more sometime. Just this awful fear....
--Anonymous, Female, Canada

I am afraid of snakes
--Anonymous, Female, Canada

saying no
--Barbara, Female, Canada

Fear #1 - My parents becoming disabled and helpless. Fear #2 - Being poor when I am old. Nightmare #1 - Being in the jungles of Vietnam (during the war), jumping over my dead comrades and having my cat under my arm struggling to get away.
--Cybele, Female, Canada

My greatest fear is death... its not death in itself, just the thought that there may be nothing beyond death. There are many times that i may come to thinking about dying, and i get a queezy stomache. This feeling also comes when i think of not having lived... meaning that there will be no "me". The thought of totally not existing is so teribly disturbing to me that quite often I am driven to tears by it.
--Peter, Male, Canada

Bugs, namely cockroaches, getting into my nose while I sleep, laying eggs and the aftermath.
--Anonymous, Female, Canada

claustrophobia, people not believing, not living up to the standard that was set 4 me, unable to fulfill half the fantasies I have set out for myself, getting out of control in public places. The biggest fear of all is conforming to someone else's ideals!!! Nightmares?
--Isaac, Male, Canada

My only true fear is fear itself. Fear that manifests itself in the form of insecurities, shyness and inability to take risks seems to me the only inhibitor in life. A life without inhibitions will lead to pure happiness and fulfillment.
--Melissa, Female, Canada

I am afraid that I will never comprehend, that is accept at a deep level, that I am loved. I wonder what love is... and keep thinking I don't grasp it, or that I am not really loved.
--Michelle, Female, Canada

Although I am far from being free of fear, I find that more and more I am coming to trust a higher power. Ultimately, the more we trust that there is a reason for our existence, a power far beyond ours, the less we believe in chance, or the likelihood of a life lived unfulfilled. I have been afraid of being alone, but have learned the true source of love, which fills any void when we learn where to look for it. My only fear about death would be if I were to find that I was mistaken about all my basic beliefs, and that I had to start all over again, but I don't think that's too likely. Understanding tends to overcome fear.
--Paul, Male, Canada

I'm afraid of being lonely. I miss my kids as they grow up. This is true even though I hated them clinging to me to much when they were young. Maybe because I did stay with them, I learned what love really was. Every time I go away, or am left by myself at home, I miss them and my husband a lot. I'm also afraid of war, or being unable to take care of myself as I grow older. I'm not sure if this is because my grandparents and father grew up in Poland, but I fear people hurting me or my loved ones, losing everything, and having to fight for a living.. maybe this is because I work outside the home too. It's a jungle out there! Thanks for asking Zoe.
-- Jane, Female, Canada

I fear that art, an essential expression of the human spirit, will be totally erradicated from the school system. What a depressing thought.
--Jason, Male, Canada

I have thought about this for a while. Interesting question, and a difficult one to answer. At first, I thought, "I can't tell someone that I don't know what it is that I'm afraid of - that would make me too vulnerable". Then I thought about what a neat exercise this is, especially your preamble to the website, and just how worthwhile the exercise could be. So, here are my two greatest fears. First, as a parent, I am intensely afraid that my children might be physically, emotionally, or mentally harmed by someone I do not know. Not an accidental occurrence, but an act of malice. Second, I am deeply afraid of making the wrong decision about my future - my vocation. I am fully capable of making life choices for myself and my family, but I feel a lack of confidence in the business arena. What if I fail? What if I'm not accepted? It is often paralyzing.
--Ann Marie, Female, Canada

I am 3 years old, and I am afraid of hippopotamuses. They are too big.
--Kyra, Female, Canada