There has been an enormous dialogue on social media lately that instigates, alludes to and evokes fear. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram allow us to discuss our fears, acknowledge them and give one another an empathetic or sympathetic response. The support network of (largely) strangers across these varied formats has given me wings on days when I haven't had the courage to fly. I hope, in turn, I've been able to reciprocate that feeling.
The media over the past few days, much like any other week has had us in fear's grasp. We are scared. We are scared of flying, scared of planes, scared of airports, scared of our passports going missing, our luggage being stolen. We are petrified of being on the receiving end of the phone line, being told it was our loved one on that plane. We pray that we will never encounter horrific circumstances beyond our control.
I was thinking about the stolen passports in the recent Malaysian Airlines accident. How we all assumed that the explanation was terrorists somebody stole my passport and then boarded a plane, which they blew up. Instead, there is a theory that the two passengers were flying on stolen passports because they were desperate to escape the poverty, war and violence in their own countries. They were so scared, living in so much fear, that they had to escape by any means possible.
I feel like we are all treading water. Sometimes the water is calm, other times it's choppy and rough, then on overwhelming days it's all twenty story high waves and suddenly you're drowning; only to bob up again the next day, week or hour and the water's calm once more. How do we cope with our fear, acknowledge it within ourselves without glorifying it and letting it take over? How do we get on a plane again and feel safe? I've had people say they would be happy to never fly again - my heart screams that, but my mind tells me to stop being silly. If the cause of the Malaysian Airlines flight was terrorism my theory is, that by ceasing flying we're letting the instigators of our nightmares win. We need to rise above that.
I don't want to live my life denying myself of happiness because I'm scared - flying being one of those wonderful, happy, amazing experiences. I love flying, love deciphering my inflight meal, love the smell of airports. It's exhilarating and exciting. Sure, I literally say a prayer when the plane takes off and lands but apart from that, I covet it.
There should be no fear, we shouldn't be scared and I'm so sad that at the moment we are. I'm so sad that we are genuinely scared and imprisoned by our ghosts. I'm disappointed that news reports evoke feelings which have us changing plans and dreams.
I hope that over time we can help each other heal with words, hugs, smiles and a beer. I hope that not one person I know stops flying or stops travelling because of the fear evoked by recent events. Above all, I hope they find that plane and those souls and give the grieving families some resolution. The rumours and stories are confusing and as I've come to discover over the past 24hrs, sometimes wildly inaccurate. They are horrifying for me to read, I can't even imagine what it's doing to those poor families and loved ones.